NYCityCenter's video: Billy Porter on directing The Life Encores Inside the Revival

Go behind the scenes with this new digital series—Encores! Inside the Revival. This mini documentary series takes you inside the next chapter of the beloved Tony-honored Encores! where the unique creative process of productions in development is led by Encores! Artistic Director Lear deBessonet and Producing Creative Director Clint Ramos. In the first installment of the series, Emmy and Tony Award-winning artist Billy Porter (FX’s Pose, Kinky Boots) takes audiences through his reimagining of the 1997 twelve-time Tony-nominated musical (including Best Musical) The Life. Punctuated with performances by recording artist and Encores! Off-Center alum Mykal Kilgore (“Use What You Got”) and Grammy-nominated artist Ledisi (“The Oldest Profession”), Encores! Producing Creative Director Clint Ramos and Porter discuss his vision for an updated take on the story of Queen, a prostitute, and her fellow sex workers, who strive for a better life against all oppressive forces in Times Square in 1980. By re-envisioning the main character of Queen, Porter transforms and evolves the story into one of hope and survival, honoring the characters’ given circumstances, and revealing their universal humanity. Music by Cy Coleman, lyrics by Ira Gasman, and book by Coleman, Gasman, and David Newman Adapted and directed by Billy Porter !