New York City Center today announced that its musical theater programming for the 2025–2026 Season will include an Encores! presentation of an all-Black production of La Cage Aux Folles starring Billy Porter as Albin. Robert O’Hara will directed the production scheduled for June 17 through 28, 2026.
The musical was one of three Encores! productions and a gala presentation announced today by City Center for the season – the first season planned by the newly appointed VP & Artistic Director, Musical Theater Jenny Gersten.
Besides Porter, no casting was yet announced for the season.
In addition to La Cage, the other Encores! musicals to be presented are the Hugh Martin-Timothy Gray musical High Spirits, based on Blithe Spirit by Noël Coward, to be directed by Jessica Stone; and the Michael John LaChiusa-George C. Wolfe musical The Wild Party, directed by Lili-Anne Brown.
In addition to the Encores! entries, the City Center season will include gala benefit performances of Keythe Farley-Brian Flemming-Laurence O’Keefe’s Bat Boy: The Musical, to be directed by Alex Timbers.
See below for performance dates, venues and other details.
“What I love about all four of this season’s productions is the diversity of eras and styles they bring to our stage—from the pop-rock sound of Bat Boy: The Musical to the glorious original orchestrations for La Cage Aux Folles,” said Jenny Gersten. “These shows are all fun in very different ways, but they also all have narratives about understanding and respecting our differences. It feels like the right moment to offer stories about acceptance during these times.”
“Jenny and the musical theater team have put together an extraordinary season for our growing audiences,” said Michael S. Rosenberg, President & CEO. “Each of these four musicals will run for two weeks and every performance will have $28 tickets available through our Access Club. Our goal is to produce great work and make sure people can afford to see it.”
The season kicks off October 29 (through November 9) with Bat Boy: The Musical, starting with a benefit performance followed by a gala dinner at the Ziegfeld Ballroom honoring Broadway producer Bee Carrozzini of ATG Entertainment. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Alex Timbers, this “heartfelt, irreverent, darkly comic musical follows a half-human, half-bat teenager who searches for acceptance and love in a small town after he is discovered in a cave.” Inspired by a popular tabloid article from the 1990s, this musical achieved cult classic status when it premiered Off Broadway in 2001. Featuring a pulsing pop-rock score by Laurence O’Keefe with original orchestrations by Tony winner Alex Lacamoire, and book by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, this Gala Presentation shines fresh light on a beloved score with newly expanded orchestrations. Funds raised from Bat Boy: The Musical help keep City Center’s unforgettable performances affordable and accessible for everyone.
The Encores! series begins February 4 (through 15) with High Spirits. The synopsis: When the eccentric, bike-riding Madame Arcati unknowingly summons the ghost of Charles’s ex-wife, Elvira, she proves a formidable, and invisible, match for his current wife, Ruth. Based on Noël Coward’s beloved play Blithe Spirit, this Tony-nominated musical is “full of haunted hijinks and features a brassy, swinging score by Hugh Martin and Timothy Gray that has rarely been heard since its original Broadway run in 1964.”
Next is The Wild Party from March 18 through 29. Synopsis: “What happens when a night of debauchery leads to a morning of sobering truths? With music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa and book by LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe, The Wild Party brings Joseph Moncure March’s notorious poem to life in this Tony-nominated musical adaptation. This dark, sensual, glittering tale explores a world dancing on the edge and the joyful defiance of the characters who inhabit it. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown, this gin-soaked party is full of jazz-age indulgence and Vaudeville stars letting loose off-the-clock.”
Closing out the 2026 Encores! series from June 17 through 28 is La Cage Aux Folles. This Tony-winning musical of love, family, and acceptance was the first to center its story around a gay couple—who happen to run the greatest drag show on the French Riviera. Directed by Robert O’Hara with Guest Music Director Joseph Joubert, the Encores! production features an all-Black cast led by Emmy, Grammy, and three-time Tony Award-winning artist Billy Porter as the fabulous Albin, bringing a new dimension to the show’s core themes of identity and belonging. With a book by Harvey Fierstein and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman, the tuneful score includes the delightful duet “With You on My Arm” and prideful anthem “I Am What I Am.”
