Billy Porter and Wayne Brady in Encores! La Cage Aux Folles rehearsal. (Credit: New York City Center)
One of my favorite films is The Birdcage, so color me excited when I learned that the stage production that started it all, La Cage aux Folles, is getting a Broadway revival called Encores! La Cage Aux Folles.
Rehearsal footage has been strategically released to drum up fervor around the upcoming musical starring Wayne Brady and Billy Porter. The footage, showing Brady and Porter singing “With Anne on My Arm (Reprise),” makes me even more desperate to get to Broadway. I’m already at risk of missing Cats: The Jellicle Ball since I don’t know when it’ll end its run; I don’t want to miss this, too.
Someone noted in the comments that the footage is also exemplary because it showcases two Black queer men at the height of their talents and having joyous fun. You probably already know Porter, best known outside of Broadway for FX’s Pose, is gay, but you might have missed when Brady came out as pansexual a few years ago. To see both these men living their truths while being successful and happy in the moment is inspiring to anyone who watches. But obviously, this video will mean a lot to the Black queer viewers who might still be searching for themselves in the media, not to mention internally. Given that it is Pride Month, releasing this rehearsal footage is a great way to celebrate not just queer pride, but queer life and queer resilience.
Encores! La Cage Aux Folles. revival starts June 17.