Billy Porter
Billy Porter
Billy Porteris a Broadway performer, pop singer, film and television actor and vocal coach. He graduated from the Musical Theatre Program at Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School's School of Drama and achieved fame performing on Broadway before starting a solo career as a singer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionStage Actor
Date of Birth21 September 1969
CityPittsburgh, PA
CountryUnited States of America
drag played realness
I always said if I played a drag queen, I'd want to create a template with the realness they talk about in 'Paris Is Burning.'
august black drag finally greatest grew honest life queen relate saw
I grew up when one of America's greatest black playwrights, August Wilson, was writing about life in Pittsburgh, but I never saw myself in any of his straight-male plays. And then I see 'Angels,' which was so honest and painful, and it had this black drag queen in it, Belize, with a big heart. I finally had a character to relate to.
album broadway brought classic cool deal genre inside josh laughed michael record trying
When I had a record deal in the '90s, that was my dream - to make an album like Barbra Streisand's Broadway album - and they laughed me out of the room. Broadway wasn't cool. But artists like Michael Buble and Josh Groban have brought the classic genre back to the forefront, so I'm trying to find my way inside that market.
nobody turning
There's this misconception that I've been turning down roles. It's just not true. The reality is, there was nothing for me to do, nobody was calling, the phone wasn't ringing.
advised either fit label remain time
There was a time in the '90s where, as an African-American man, you had to be a misogynistic R&B star or a rapper, and I didn't fit into either one of those. I was advised by my label to remain closeted at that time.
gauge people regardless responding somebody whether work
If you gauge how you're doing on whether somebody is responding vocally or not, you're up a creek. You can't do that; you kind of have to be inside of your work and play the scene. And tell the story every day. Tell the story. Tell the story. Regardless of how people are responding, I'm going to tell the story.
songs
For me, I really feel like if there's not a real, true connection to the material, I don't need to sing it. I don't need to sing songs just because I like them anymore. I've done that.
age call
When I was younger, I did what I now call 'extreme singing.' I could do this thing where I would sing really high. I can't really do that anymore, at my age. My voice has shifted. It's changed.
albums awards carnegie changed jennifer later perform pittsburgh streisand tony
Seeing Jennifer Holliday from 'Dreamgirls' perform on the Tony Awards telecast and later discovering Barbra Streisand by listening to her albums at the Carnegie Library in Pittsburgh really changed everything for me.
against gay hope movement music truth
My truth is I am gay and out, and if I can't do that in my music, then I don't need it. Fortunately, I do feel like there is a movement against homophobia, and I hope to be part of that.
closet fine gotta left realized serve supposed until utterly
I was fine being in the closet at the beginning of my career because that's what you were supposed to be - until I realized that it didn't serve anybody, and I was left feeling utterly empty. This is who I am, so I've gotta be me.
human
We need to understand that whatever we do, we're all human beings first.
artists embrace gives power social trying
I'm trying to embrace social media because it gives artists a little more power than we've had in the past.
heel high love man woman
I'm in love with what a high heel does to a leg: how it makes a woman or a man feel. It's empowering.