DL all-time fave Billy Porter to star in "La Cage" revival at City Center

A musical comedy about a half-boy, half-bat creature, directed by a Tony winner, and an all-Black revival of the farce “La Cage aux Folles,” starring Billy Porter, will highlight the 2025-26 musical theater season at New York City Center.

The four-show lineup is the first chosen by the center’s new vice president and artistic director of musical theater, Jenny Gersten, who is taking over programming from Lear deBessonet, who was named the artistic director of Lincoln Center Theater.

Gersten, who had for three years been the artistic director of the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts before joining New York City Center as vice president and producer in 2020, said she aimed to focus on the original mission of the 32-year-old Encores! concert series, which stages short-run productions of decades-old musicals, many of which are rarely revived.

“A lot of people think about the Encores! series as being for revivals of musicals that you might not otherwise see, but the rationale for Encores! was always the chance to hear the orchestrations as they were originally intended,” she said.

First up is the annual gala presentation, which will be “Bat Boy: The Musical” (Oct. 29-Nov. 9). This irreverent horror-rock musical, inspired by stories from a supermarket tabloid, centers on a cave-dwelling creature (Bat Boy) who searches for acceptance and love in a small town. It will be helmed by Alex Timbers, who won a Tony Award in 2021 for directing “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” The story and book are by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe (“Legally Blonde: The Musical”).

Next, the Encores! series will begin with a production of the supernatural musical comedy “High Spirits” (Feb. 4-15), based on Noël Coward’s 1941 play “Blithe Spirit” about a man coping with his dead wife’s ghost. Though the musical, whose score and book are by Hugh Martin (“Meet Me in St. Louis”) and Timothy Gray, was nominated for eight Tonys, it won none and was never revived on Broadway. It will be directed by Jessica Stone (“Kimberly Akimbo,” “Water for Elephants”). (cont.)

(cont.) It will be followed in the spring by a revival of Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe’s hedonistic “The Wild Party” (March 18-29). Set in the Roaring Twenties, the show, which is inspired by a 1928 poem by Joseph Moncure March, is a Jazz Age musical about lust, death and substance abuse. Lili-Anne Brown will direct.

Finally, Porter (“Kinky Boots”, “Pose”) and the director Robert O’Hara (“Slave Play”) will team up on “La Cage aux Folles” (June 17-28), with an all-Black cast. Porter will headline as Albin, the star attraction at a nightclub managed by his romantic partner, Georges. The 1983 musical, with a book by Harvey Fierstein (“Torch Song Trilogy,” “Kinky Boots”) and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (“Hello, Dolly!”, “Mame”), was the first Broadway musical to focus on a homosexual relationship. It won six Tony Awards, including best musical.

“We tell gay stories a lot onstage, but it’s not often that we get to center voices that are also marginalized because of their background,” Gersten said.

The productions are known for their full, onstage orchestras; often starry casts; and minimal sets and props.

At the end of the day, Gersten said, she hopes audiences will be exposed to new shows, while gaining a fresh perspective on those they’ve seen.

“All four of these musicals encourage us to think about how we can expand our consideration to people who aren’t like us,” she said. “We can’t be telling these stories enough at a time when it’s so easy for us to get lost in our own echo chambers or our own belief systems.”

Who??

Notorious hater of homosexuals, JK Rowling, has decided to sit this one out until she can hop onto related trans hatred.

A black trans should be the main performer in the next incarnation of her most lucrative character.

She hates trans

She hates gay men. Links to come.

[quote[“We tell gay stories a lot onstage, but it’s not often that we get to center voices that are also marginalized because of their background,” Gersten said.

Gawd, it sounds like a barrel of laffs already!

When did JK Rowling start hating gay men, r4?

He had already lost a couple octaves by the aughts. He says due to acid reflux.

Done to Death.

She didn't, R6. The post is gibberish

High Spirits?! How exciting! I love that show. Oh I love that show's score so much.

Bittersweet to read. For years I had a subscription to Encores! with a friend. We'd travel from MA to NYC for the Saturday matinee at City Center. His health deteriorated over time (diabetes+). Encores became insufferable (no interest in their shows +their cost) and self-important, instead of just fun. We stopped attending.

My friend died in early May... if he were still here, I'd make special plans for us to see High Spritis... he loved the show as well and for ages we wished Encores! would include it in the season.

When do tickets go on sale?

R4

R4 is not going to allow the truth r11 to stand in the way of his insanity.

Agree with previous poster. After twenty-one years as an Encores subscriber I let my sixth row orchestra seats go, the programming had become so shitty. Grand Hotel? Thoroughly Modern Millie? Yuck. These shows were lousy enough the first time!

I would love to see High Spirits, but La Cage with the "marginalized" Billy Porter would finish me off for good!

High Spirits needs a crackerjack cast to work. People on ATC are already screaming Cole Escola for Arcati. Fine, as long as it isn't Andrea Martin.

Is Rick Scott available for the title role in "Bat Boy"?

Jinx Monsoon would make an excellent Mme. Arcati. Why not?

Because they have no talent?

Will his wardrobe be done by Nasty Pig?

Ms. Porter's gowns from... her closet.

I loved Bat Boy when I saw it off Broadway. The music is really good, the story is a little weak. Hope they can revive the book.

I do miss the days when they would do lovely rarely mounted old shows just so you got to hear them in their entirety. I have very fond memories of seeing "Lady in the Dark" (with Christine Ebersole and Tony Goldwyn), "Call Me Madam" (with Tyne Daly), and "Pal Joey" (with Patti LuPone and Peter Gallagher) back in the day.

Is Billy to play the lead character Georges, the owner of the drag club on the French Riviera, or the boyfriend Albin, the drag artist Zaza? I could see Billy as Zaza. But I don't know if Billy can do farce. I suspect, not so well. The issue with Billy is that he thinks he is doing high camp, it reads as low camp.

I saw Bat Boy off Bway. I thought it was extra stupid and didn’t understand the hullabaloo. I’ll be missing it this time around.

The only one I’m sort of excited about is The Wild Party. It was the main reason I got tickets last season but then it was postponed and replaced with Wonderful Town.

I like the idea of reimagining musical with Black leads but I don’t like La Cage enough to care

I've seen several productions of "Bat Boy" including one at a community college. It's a fun show, but I don't know if it's Broadway material.

Well, Encores has started to do off-Bway shows once a year: New Brain, Little Shop, etc.

Billy will be the main reason folks don't renew their subscriptions. I know I'm not going to.

Agree that Encores has gone downhill of late. Used to subscribe, but no longer do. And I won’t for next year’s rep. Intrigued by High Society, but I’m waiting to see the cast. Saw Wonderful Town this year and was underwhelmed. Love the show and love the score. Anika Noni Rose, whom I have enjoyed in other projects, was, in my opinion, miscast. You need a dame…a right broad for that role. Ms Rose was too classy.

I can't wait to not see Ms. Porter in "La Cage."

Once again, no "Panama Hattie", "Goldilocks" or "Whoop-Up".

I would love a good production of Bajour!

The Rink is another one that should be revived.

They're Playing Our Song

Barnum

Bring Back Birdie

Its not broadway.…..

Henry, Sweet Henry

with HRH Princess Charlotte of Wales as Kafritz!

[quote] directed by a Tony winner, and an all-Black revival of the farce “La Cage aux Folles,”

Okay that explains it. And yet, everybody’s always stealing from them. 🙄

Billy Porter is a big ol' look-at-me ham in fluorescent rainbow colors. Maybe there is such a thing as too gay.

I think Billy will be wonderful in "La Cage."

Go dilate R4!

I Ham What I Ham