{"id":269580,"date":"2026-06-17T14:35:52","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269580\/"},"modified":"2026-06-17T14:35:52","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T14:35:52","slug":"billy-porter-and-wayne-brady-lead-la-cage-aux-folles-for-new-york-city-center-encores-starting-june-17","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/269580\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Porter and Wayne Brady Lead La Cage aux Folles for New York City Center Encores! Starting June 17"},"content":{"rendered":"

The best of times is now!\u00a0The final offering of the 2026 City
\nCenter Encores! season, the Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical La Cage aux Folles<\/a>, plays the Manhattan venue June 17-28.<\/p>\n

Robert O’Hara<\/a> directs the Tony-winning musical, which features a 28-piece orchestra, conducted by guest music
\ndirector Joseph Joubert<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The all-Black cast is led by\u00a0Tony winner Billy Porter<\/a> (Kinky Boots<\/a>, Pose) as\u00a0Albin and\u00a0Emmy winner Wayne Brady<\/a> (The Wiz<\/a>) as Georges. Watch the duo in rehearsals above. The company also features\u00a0Alaman Diadhiou (Jelly’s Last Jam<\/a>) as Jean-Michel, Lance Coadie Williams<\/a> (Kiss Me, Kate) as Renaud, James Jackson<\/a>, Jr. (A Strange Loop<\/a>) as Jacob, Michael McElroy<\/a> (Sunday in the Park With George) as Francois, Sharon Washington<\/a> (The Scottsboro Boys<\/a>) as Marie, Tony winner Tonya Pinkins<\/a> (Caroline, Or Change)
\n as Jacqueline, Peter Francis James<\/a> as Edouard, and Rachel Webb<\/a> as Anne.<\/p>\n

Watch Billy Porter Rehearse ‘A Little More Mascara’ for Encores! La Cage aux Folles<\/a><\/p>\n

The ensemble includes Jordan Alexander<\/a>, Sai Anthony, Jordan Chin<\/a>,
\nJoshua Dawson<\/a>, Jamal Christopher Douglas<\/a>, Michael Samarie George<\/a>, Aaron
\nGraham, Ari Groover<\/a>, Jaquez, Karma Jenkins, Christian Kidd<\/a>, Kendall
\nLashanti, Andre Malcolm<\/a>, Kareem Marsh<\/a>, Morgan McGhee<\/a>, Ernest Mingo,
\nWesley Ryan, Julian Amari Smith, Jordan Simone Stephens, Wade Watson,
\nAnthony Wayne<\/a>, and Travon Williams.<\/p>\n

The production also has choreography by Edgar
\nGodineaux, tap choreography by Dormeshia, scenic design by David Zinn<\/a>,
\ncostume design by Clint Ramos<\/a>, lighting design by Adam Honor\u00e9<\/a>, sound
\n design by Megumi Katayama<\/a>, hair and wig design by Rob Pickens, and makeup design by Joe Dulude II<\/a>.<\/p>\n

READ:\u00a0Billy Porter Is Back From the Dead\u2014and More Fabulous Than Ever<\/a><\/p>\n

Based on the play by Jean Poiret<\/a>, La Cage has a book by Fierstein and music and lyrics by Herman. The musical
\nopened on Broadway in August 1983, subsequently winning six Tony Awards,
\n including Best Musical.<\/p>\n

The musical follows longtime
\n partners Albin and Georges, who are proprietors of a drag nightclub
\nin St. Tropez; their world turns upside down when their son brings home
\nhis fianc\u00e9e\u2019s strait-laced parents. The Encores!
\n production also highlights the original 1983 orchestrations, not heard
\nsince its original Broadway run.<\/p>\n

Video: Wayne Brady and Billy Porter Are Married in 1st Look at Encores! La Cage aux Folles<\/a><\/p>\n

Casting for Encores! is by The Telsey Office<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Tickets are on sale at NYCityCenter.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The best of times is now!\u00a0The final offering of the 2026 City Center Encores! season, the Jerry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":269581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,9,24,63],"class_list":["post-269580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=269580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/269580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/269581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=269580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=269580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=269580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}