Watch Billy Porter Rehearse 'A Little More Mascara' for Encores! La Cage aux Folles

The Tony-winning Kinky Boots star is joined by director Robert O'Hara and guest music director Joseph Joubert.

April 14, 2026 By Andrew Gans

Preparations are underway for the final offering of the 2026 City Center Encores! season: the Jerry Herman-Harvey Fierstein musical La Cage aux Folles, which will play the Manhattan venue June 17-28.

In the video above, Tony winner Billy Porter (Kinky Boots, Pose), who will play Albin, rehearses "A Little More Mascara" and chats with director Robert O'Hara and guest music director Joseph Joubert about approaching the music and the character.

Porter will be joined in the all-Black cast by Emmy winner Wayne Brady (The Wiz, Kinky Boots, Let's Make a Deal) as Georges, Alaman Diadhiou (Jelly’s Last Jam) as Jean-Michel, Lance Coadie Williams (Kiss Me, Kate) as Renaud, James Jackson, Jr. (A Strange Loop) as Jacob, Michael McElroy (Sunday in the Park with George) as Francois, and Sharon Washington (The Scottsboro Boys) as Marie. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

The upcoming production will also have choreography by Edgar Godineaux, tap choreography by Dormeshia, scenic design by David Zinn, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by Adam Honoré, and sound design by Megumi Katayama.

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

The musical follows longtime partners Albin and Georges, who are proprietors of a drag nightclub in St. Tropez; their world turns upside down when their son brings home his fiancée’s strait-laced parents. The Encores! production will also highlight the original 1983 orchestrations, not heard since its original Broadway run.

Casting for Encores! is by The Telsey Office.

Tickets are on sale at NYCityCenter.org.