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
Billy Porter quotes about
play trying way
I had something nobody else could do - I sang in a way that separated me - and, when you're trying to get noticed, you play your trump card.
gay black world
I want to keep changing the world. It's possible. The black gay lead is ready. It's time.
careers able orchestra
I would love to be able to turn my recording career into something that is substantial, and where I can go and tour with an orchestra.
jobs careers connections
When you're at the beginning of your career, there are a lot of, "I don't care about this," jobs that you take because it's about building your resume and building connections. There are so many factors that don't have anything to do with choosing for the material.
ego narcissistic bank-accounts
How can you be of service to something other than your own ego and bank account, in a business that's inherently narcissistic?
new-york believe thinking
I'm not a person who believes that Broadway is the only place. I think there's lots of work that goes on outside of Broadway and outside of New York that's better than anything Broadway has ever seen. But, it's historically the place. It's one of the centers of the universe, in many ways.
fashion passionate
I've always been passionate about fashion.
empowering hopeful being-positive
For me, life is about being positive and hopeful, choosing to be joyful, choosing to be encouraging, choosing to be empowering.
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.