Videos: Tom Hanks Performs a Jingle About Getting to The Shed for THIS WORLD OF TOMORROW

Following a hiatus of more than a decade, Tom Hanks is back on the New York stage. This time, he is starring off-Broadway in This World of Tomorrow, an original play he co-wrote, that is now in previews at The Shed. 

During a visit to The Late Show, the Oscar winner shared a catchy ditty to help prospective audience members find their way to The Shed, which is located at Hudson Yards. "Everybody knows where Broadway is... but letting everyone know where The Shed is is a bit of a challenge." 

During his visit, he also spoke about his return to theater and how, even as a co-writer, he has sometimes gone up on his lines. "I disappeared the other night. And when it happens, Kelli'O Hara or Ruben Santiago-Hudson look at me and go, 'Come on, man.'"

He went on to share the difference between performing for the stage and screen and how the audience plays a crucial part in fine-tuning the show. "It's an exciting thing, and being one of the cowriters is a pleasure and a joy, but it is also as terrifying an experience as I've ever had," he admitted.

The idea for the story came from a dinner game Hanks likes to play, where participants pick a time from the past in which they would choose to visit for just 12 hours. In the play, the protagonist Bert Allenberry (played by Hanks) repeatedly goes back to visit the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, New York. 

Previews for This World of Tomorrow began on October 30 in The Shed’s Griffin Theater with an opening night on November 18 as The Shed’s 2025 Gala. The production closes on December 21.

This World of Tomorrow is a new play by Tom Hanks and James Glossman, based on short stories written by Hanks, and directed by Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. This World of Tomorrow features Hanks in the lead role of Bert Allenberry alongside Kelli O’Hara. Also joining the cast are: Kerry Bishé, Kayli Carter, Paul Murphy, Jamie Ann Romero, Lee Aaron Rosen, Jay O. Sanders, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Donald Webber Jr., and Michelle Wilson.

This World of Tomorrow tells the story of Bert Allenberry, a forlorn scientist from the future who embarks on a time-traveling quest for true love, returning again, and again, and again to one special day at the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, New York.