Billy Porter News

Jenni Barber, Quentin Earl Darrington, Bradley Dean, Dan Fogler, Ana Gasteyer, Josh Lamon, Aaron Lazar, Alyse Alan Louis and Rema Webb will join the previously announced Jonathan Groff in the Encores! Off-Center production of William Finn and James Lapine's A New Brain, running June 24 - 27, 2015. The production will be directed by James Lapine, with choreography by Josh Prince.

Primary Stages has announced the fourth production of their upcoming 31st Season to be performed at The Duke on 42nd Street, a New 42nd Street project:

New KINKY BOOTS metch!

TONY Award winning actor and Renaissance man Billy Porter of Kinky Boots fame, is the latest featured artist in The Creative Faces Project: an evolving portrait and interview collective celebrating artists who inspire the New York Stage. His photos and questionnaire, published Thursday May 7th, can be viewed on The Creative Faces Project website: www.thecreativefacesproject.com  

Second Stage Theatre has announced two New York Premiere productions for its upcoming 37th season.  The season will kick off in fall 2015 with the New York Premiere production of Matt Gould and Griffin Matthews' new musical, INVISIBLE THREAD (previously titled Witness Uganda), in association with American Repertory Theater, directed by Tony Award winner Diane Paulus (Finding Neverland, Pippin).  The season will continue in early 2016 with the New York premiere of Lydia R. Diamond's (Stick Fly) critically acclaimed play, SMART PEOPLE, directed by Tony Award Winner Kenny Leon (Fences, A Raisin in the Sun, Stick Fly). Two additional productions remain to be announced. 

La MaMa will present the world-premiere of THIS IS MARY BROWN - a solo play written and performed by Winsome Brown - with preview performances starting June 11 prior to an official press opening June 14 at La MaMa's First Floor Theatre (74 E. 4 St.) in Manhattan. Brad Rouse directs the production, which runs through June 28. Following its debut at La MaMa, THIS IS MARY BROWN will travel to Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Philadelphia Theatre Company continues its 40th Anniversary season with the hit of the Humana Festival brownsville song (b-side for tray) by Kimber Lee tonight, May 1-31.

Michael McElroy (TONY nomination, BIG RIVER) and The Broadway Inspirational Voices and Salem Missionary Baptist Church are teaming up for a Spring Concert Sunday May 31st 7:30pm. The concert will raise funds for the T.J. Boyd Scholarship Foundation.  Salem is the home church of Tony award winner and BIV veteran Adriane Lennox (DOUBT, After Midnight).  The concert is titled "Miracles" and in true BIV fashion, aims to lift and inspire though song using an array of gospel music.

Midtown Direct Rep (MDR), the ensemble-based theater company based in South Orange/Maplewood, NJ, announces A CONVERSATION WITH BILLY PORTER, on Monday, June 15, 2015 at 7:30 PM at the South Orange Performing Arts Center (SOPAC) in a one-night-only benefit appearance hosted by NY1's Budd Mishkin.

Producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig welcome back Tony Award-winner Billy Porter to Kinky Boots tonight, April 28. Porter will step back into the heels of 'Lola' after a three month hiatus. Kyle Taylor Parker, who took over the role in Porter's absence, will head back on the road to continue strutting his stuff as Lola in the First National Touring Production of Kinky Boots.

Good morning, BroadwayWorld! Because we know all our readers eat, sleep and breathe Broadway, what could be better than waking up to it? Today's big news: The Tony noms are this morning, Brandy heads to CHICAGO, Porter returns to KINKY BOOTS, FOLLIES lights up Royal Albert Hall and more!

Producers Daryl Roth and Hal Luftig will welcome back Tony Award-winner Billy Porter to Kinky Boots tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 28. Porter will step back into the heels of 'Lola' after a three month hiatus. Kyle Taylor Parker, who took over the role in Porter's absence, will head back on the road to continue strutting his stuff as Lola in the First National Touring Production of Kinky Boots.

The Pittsburgh CLO Guild celebrates 60 years of the Guild Ball this year with their most exciting guest star yet!  This festive celebration will be highlighted by a special performance by Tony and GRAMMY Award-winning singer, actor, playwright and director BILLY PORTER. 

Composer Jason Robert Brown has built quite a catalog of his own songs, having written the music to such Broadway shows as Parade, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Bridges of Madison County, and many more, but now he is branching out into the works of the Piano Man himself. Brown recently released his own covers of songs from Billy Joel's 'The Stranger' album- check them out below! He writes on his official website:

Actress, playwright, and social commentator Anna Deavere Smith concludes Philadelphia Theatre Company's new Theater Masters series on Monday, May 11 at the Suzanne Roberts Theatre (Broad and Lombard Streets).  Launched as part of PTC's celebration of its 40th Anniversary season, Theatre Masters offers an array of Monday night on-stage interviews with major theatre artists with whom PTC has worked, each sharing their personal journey of transformation and creative growth over time and how it has impacted both their art and their lives.

BroadwayWorld has learned this morning that casting we previously reported for the Toronto production of Kinky Boots has been confirmed. American Broadway touring vet Alan Mingo Jr. will star as Lola - the role originated by Billy Porter in the Broadway production. Graham Scott Fleming will play Charlie Price, the young man who inherits a shoe-factory from his father, only to learn it isn't financially stable.

Producer Rick Murray announced two additional superstar headliners for the 2015 Broadway Series in Provincetown, MA this summer at The Crown & Anchor's Paramount Theatre and Town Hall Auditorium. Tickets go on sale today for just-added shows by Kathy Griffin August 23 at Town Hall and Charles Busch August 31 and September 1 at the Paramount.

BroadwayWorld Toronto has learned that American actor Alan Mingo Jr. will play Lola in the Toronto production of KINKY BOOTS. Mingo Jr. joins Graham Scott Fleming as Charlie Price, a casting which BroadwayWorld previously reported. The Toronto production is set to begin performances at The Royal Alexandra Theatre on June 16, 2015.

Kinky Boots, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning hit musical, celebrated two-year anniversary on Broadway on Saturday, April 4, 2015. Featuring a Tony Award-winning score by pop icon Cyndi Lauper, a book by Tony Award-winner Harvey Fierstein, and direction and choreography by Tony Award-winner Jerry Mitchell, opened to rave reviews on April 4, 2013, at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre (302 West 45th St), where it's played 835 performances for over a million people... and counting! KINKY BOOTS just launched a new ad campaign for year two -- scroll down to watch the new promo video, plus check out two new ads and pics from the photo shoot!

The talent lineup for the 20th Anniversary of the Todd Schroeder Young Artist Grant Benefit Concert, scheduled to take place in Sonora, California, on April 18th, has been announced today. Headlining the show will be Sam Harris, direct from his Off-Broadway hit run of 'Ham: A Musical Memoir,' directed by Billy Porter ('Kinky Boots') and produced by Susan Dietz. Other performers will include Mark D. Espinoza, best known for his role as 'Jesse' on the hit 90s TV series 'Beverly Hills, 90210'; multi-platinum selling songwriter Kevin Fisher; Robyn Spangler, BroadwayWorld's 2011 Cabaret Artist of the Year, and many more. Light and sound design will once again be created by Broadway veteran technical director Matt Berman.