Tony Award nominee Ato Blankson-Wood will take over the title role in Ms. Blakk for President at Vineyard Theatre, replacing Wayne Brady, who has withdrawn from the Off Broadway production after being diagnosed with a vocal polyp, producers announced on September 29.

Blankson-Wood will portray Terence Alan Smith, who performed as Joan Jett Blakk, the Black drag performer and activist whose 1992 presidential write-in campaign unfolded during the height of the AIDS crisis.

The play is co-written by Tarell Alvin McCraney, the writer behind Moonlight, and Tina Landau, who also directs.

The change shifts the calendar

Performances now begin on October 22, a week later than originally planned, to make room for Blankson-Wood’s rehearsals. The official opening night has moved from November 1 to November 8, and the run lasts five weeks.

Brady, an Emmy winner and Grammy nominee, left the production on the advice of his doctor, who ordered vocal rest. In a statement released by the producers, he said that when he began the journey with the play two years ago, he could not have imagined stepping away before the company finished it together. He described himself as heartbroken to leave a show and a family he loves deeply.

A vocal polyp is a noncancerous growth on the vocal folds. It can make a voice hoarse or strained, and performers who rely on their voice eight shows a week are often told to rest it while they recover.

The 54-year-old later addressed the news in an Instagram video, telling followers he is sitting this one out and that it is okay. He also thanked Landau, McCraney, the cast, the creative team and everyone at Vineyard Theatre for the love, grace and support they have given him since he joined the project.

In the video, Brady also spoke about learning to pause his catastrophic thinking. He has worked in entertainment since he was 16.

Vineyard Artistic Director Sarah Stern thanked Brady for the generosity, artistry and commitment he brought to the production, and welcomed Blankson-Wood into the role. She noted that he is an artist in residence at the Vineyard this season, which makes his arrival particularly meaningful for the company.

Blankson-Wood arrives with a strong stage record. He earned a Tony nomination for Slave Play and starred as Clifford Bradshaw in the most recent Broadway revival of Cabaret. His earlier Broadway credits include Hair and Lysistrata Jones, and his breakout performance came in The Total Bent at The Public Theater, which brought Drama League and Lucille Lortel Award nominations. In 2025, he received the Vineyard’s Colman Domingo Award.

The casting also carries historic resonance. Blankson-Wood has been reported as the first Black man to play Clifford on Broadway in Cabaret, and he now steps into the shoes of the first Black drag queen to run for president.

Joining him in the cast are Nic Ashe, Tony Award nominee Gideon Glick, Kelvin Moon Loh, Sawyer Smith and Adina Verson. They had already been announced to appear alongside Brady, who was originally set to lead the production.

Ms. Blakk for President had its world premiere in 2019 at Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, and the Vineyard staging is the first production of the theatre’s 2026-27 season. The theatre describes the play as inspired by, but not bound to, the true story of Smith, a joyous charge through urgent and unfinished business.

The show’s poster leans into the campaign trail, with a hot pink background and a collage of political buttons, including ones that read “Queers Fight Back” and “Lick Bush in ’92.” It is a visual reminder that the story is as much protest as it is performance.

The subject matter gives the casting added weight. Blakk’s campaign took place at a time when the AIDS crisis was devastating queer and Black communities, and her run used humor and drag to demand attention for people that mainstream politics was ignoring. A lead performer must carry both the comedy and the anger of that history, and the production now turns to Blankson-Wood to do so.

For Brady, the exit comes after two years with the project, and for the Vineyard, the priority is a smooth handover in a short rehearsal window before audiences arrive.

Tickets are on sale now, with performances beginning October 22 at Vineyard Theatre and opening night set for November 8.