‘Ms. Blakk for President’: Wayne Brady leaves the leading role for health reasons, Ato Blankson-Wood replaces him

Wayne Brady has been forced to withdraw from the leading role in ‘Ms. Blakk for President’ at Vineyard Theatre, after doctors diagnosed a polyp on his vocal cords and ordered complete vocal rest, as Playbill reported on September 29. The Emmy-winning star, known from ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’, will undergo a medical procedure very soon and aims to return to the stage next year.

The role of Terence Alan Smith/Joan Jett Blakk will be taken over by Ato Blankson-Wood, a Tony nominee for ‘Slave Play’ and known from the recent Broadway revival of ‘Cabaret’ in the role of Clifford Bradshaw. The news was also confirmed by BroadwayWorld and Deadline.

The cast change also changed the calendar: previews now start on October 22, the official opening moves to November 8 and the final performance will be on November 22 — a week later than the initial opening date, November 1. The rest of the cast includes Nic Ashe, Tony nominee Gideon Glick, Kelvin Moon Loh, Sawyer Smith and Adina Verson.

‘Ms. Blakk for President’, co-written by Oscar winner Tarell Alvin McCraney (‘Moonlight’, ‘Choir Boy’) and Tina Landau, who also directs this production, tells the true story of Joan Jett Blakk, the first — and only — Black drag queen to run for President of the USA in 1992 to raise awareness of AIDS, with the campaign slogan ‘Lick Bush in ’92!’. After its world premiere at Chicago’s Steppenwolf in 2019, this is its Off-Broadway premiere.

‘Unfortunately, because of vocal strain and a polyp on my vocal cords, I have to withdraw from the production immediately,’ Brady said in a press statement. ‘I will have the procedure very soon and I can’t wait to recover and get back on stage next year at 100%.’ He added that his heart breaks to leave ‘a show and a family he loves so much’, but promised to cheer them on wholeheartedly to the end.