NY City Center Season Will Include Alex Timbers-Helmed BAT BOY; Billy Porter in LA CAGE AUX FOLLES

A new season is coming at New York City Center! The 2025 – 2026 Season will be the first planned by newly appointed VP & Artistic Director,  Musical Theater Jenny Gersten. 

“What I love about all four of this season’s productions is the diversity of eras and styles they bring to our stage—from the pop-rock sound of Bat Boy: The Musical to the glorious original orchestrations for La  Cage Aux Folles,” said Jenny Gersten. “These shows are all fun in very different ways, but they also all  have narratives about understanding and respecting our differences. It feels like the right moment to  offer stories about acceptance during these times.” 

“Jenny and the musical theater team have put together an extraordinary season for our growing  audiences,” said Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO. “Each of these four musicals will run for two  weeks and every performance will have $28 tickets available through our Access Club. Our goal is to produce great work and make sure people can afford to see it.” 

Annual Gala Presentation 

On October 29 (through November 9), Bat Boy: The Musical opens with a benefit performance followed  by a gala dinner at the Ziegfeld Ballroom honoring Broadway producer Bee Carrozzini of Ambassador  Theatre Group. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, this heartfelt, irreverent, darkly  comic musical follows a half-human, half-bat teenager who searches for acceptance and love in a small  town after he is discovered in a cave. Inspired by a popular tabloid article from the 1990s, this “fervid,  wicked, and arch” (The New York Times) musical achieved cult classic status when it premiered Off Broadway in 2001. Featuring a pulsing pop-rock score by Laurence O’Keefe with original orchestrations  by Tony winner Alex Lacamoire, and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, this Gala Presentation  shines fresh light on a beloved score with newly expanded orchestrations. Funds raised from Bat Boy:  The Musical help keep City Center’s unforgettable performances affordable and accessible for everyone. 

2026 Encores! Series 

Led by Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell, Artistic Director Jenny Gersten, and Producing Creative Director Clint Ramos, the 2026 Encores! series opens February 4 (through 15) with High Spirits, directed  by Tony Award winner Jessica Stone with Encores! Music Director Mary-Mitchell Campbell. When the  eccentric, bike-riding Madame Arcati unknowingly summons the ghost of Charles’s ex-wife, Elvira, she proves a formidable, and invisible, match for his current wife, Ruth. Based on Noël Coward’s beloved play Blithe Spirit, this Tony-nominated musical is full of haunted hijinks and features a brassy, swinging  score by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray that has rarely been heard since its original Broadway run in  1964. 

Next is The Wild Party from March 18 through 29. What happens when a night of debauchery leads to a  morning of sobering truths? With music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by LaChiusa and  George C. Wolfe, The Wild Party brings Joseph Moncure March’s notorious poem to life in this Tony nominated musical adaptation. This dark, sensual, glittering tale explores a world dancing on the edge and the joyful defiance of the characters who inhabit it. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown, this gin-soaked  party is full of jazz-age indulgence and Vaudeville stars letting loose off-the-clock. 

Closing out the 2026 Encores! series from June 17 through 28 is La Cage Aux Folles. This Tony-winning  musical of love, family, and acceptance was the first to center its story around a gay couple—who happen to run the greatest drag show on the French Riviera. Directed by Robert O’Hara with Guest  Music Director Joseph Joubert, the Encores! production features an all-Black cast for the first time led by Emmy, Grammy, and three-time Tony Award-winning artist Billy Porter as the fabulous Albin, bringing a new dimension to the show’s core themes of identity and belonging. With a book by Harvey Fierstein  and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, the tuneful score includes the delightful duet “With You on My  Arm” and prideful anthem “I Am What I Am.” 

Tickets and General Information 

Tickets for the Annual Gala Presentation Bat Boy: The Musical go on sale at noon on June 10 to members  and June 24 to the general public. Tickets can be purchased online at NYCityCenter.org, by calling  212.581.1212, or in person at the City Center Box Office. Gala packages for the October 28 benefit start  at $2,500. For more details, contact SpecialEvents@NYCityCenter.org or call 212.763.1205.  

For audience members 40 years of age and under, Access Club offers a limited number of $28 tickets  (fees included) to City Center productions. For more information and to enroll, visit NYCityCenter.org/Access.