{"id":284693,"date":"2026-07-02T10:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/284693\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T10:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T10:30:13","slug":"billy-porter-talks-with-the-amnews-on-his-return-to-the-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/284693\/","title":{"rendered":"Billy Porter talks with the AmNews on his return to the stage"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Billy Porter, who just finished playing Albin in \u201cLa Cage Aux Folles\u201d at New York City Center, recently returned to the stage after experiencing serious health issues in 2025. Porter, who took the role of Albin to new heights, spoke with the AmNews via email about his latest production.<\/p>\n

AmNews: How did you feel about playing Albin in La Cage Aux Folles during PRIDE month and closing out the Encores! series?<\/p>\n

Billy Porter (BP): It\u2019s a gift to perform Black Queer Joy at this time in our history. It\u2019s vital and necessary. Our joy is resistance. <\/p>\n

AmNews: With the serious health issues you faced in 2025 and with this being your return to the stage, what did the songs \u201cI Am What I Am\u201d and \u201cBest of Times\u201d mean to you in this moment? You performed them with such amazing emotion, I was in tears. <\/p>\n

BP: When I awakened from being in a coma and on life support last year, we didn\u2019t know if I would ever be able to perform on this level again. \u2018Gratitude\u2019 is a word that comes to mind first. But the truth is, there are no words for the pure joy that I\u2019m experiencing in this moment. I am truly a miracle!<\/p>\n

AmNews: You always go above and beyond to give your characters such passion, such humor, such spirit, always beautifully and proudly representing the LGBTQIA+ community. What do you hope to inspire the youth in this often-mistreated community to realize about themselves?<\/p>\n

BP: My hope is that this work is inspiring, empowering, and allows us all to know that we are what and who we are, and that is and will always be enough! We ain\u2019t goin\u2019 nowhere!<\/p>\n

AmNews: What did you want the audience to see when they look at Albin?<\/p>\n

BP: I only focus on the work. I try to not seek validation from outside of me. What other people think is none of my business. <\/p>\n

AmNews: You co-starred with Wayne Brady as Georges. What was your approach to building the incredible bond the two of you had onstage? As I watched you engage, you both have such a supportive demeanor for each other. It was quite touching to behold.<\/p>\n

BP: I\u2019ve loved Wayne and his work, energy and spirit since I first saw him on \u201cWho\u2019s Line is it Anyway.\u201d I have followed his career and have marveled at the depth of his talent. I\u2019ve been longing to work with him for quite some time. We have a mutual love and respect for each other. We had ten days. We just jumped off the ledge. I\u2019m pleased that folk can see queer love between two Black men onstage. <\/p>\n

AmNews: What do you feel about this country\u2019s current treatment of the LGBTQIA community and what do you hope for in the future?<\/p>\n

BP: I\u2019m enraged! We did this already and we\u2019re not going back. None of us are free until we all are free. My hope is that we all will put our differences aside and stop eating our own. There\u2019s too much work to do!<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Billy Porter, who just finished playing Albin in \u201cLa Cage Aux Folles\u201d at New York City Center, recently…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284694,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135,109160],"class_list":["post-284693","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news","tag-unfinished-business-american-250"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284693","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=284693"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284693\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284694"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284693"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284693"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284693"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}