Billy's Back! Tony Winner Billy Porter Returns to Broadway's Kinky Boots

Dancing in heels: It's like riding a bike, right? Tony Award winner Billy Porter slips on the red thigh-highs once again in the Broadway production of Kinky Boots. He replaces Kyle Taylor Parker, who stepped in temporarily at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre while Porter directed The Colored Museum at the Huntington Theatre Company in Boston.

Parker originated the role in the first national tour of the Tony-winning musical and will return to the road to headline the show. Porter is scheduled to appear on Broadway through January 2016. He will head to his hometown of Pittsburgh from August 4 through August 9 to star in the tour. Parker will return to the Great White Way during that time.

Porter took home a Tony Award in 2013 for his star performance as Lola in the Cyndi Lauper and Harvey Fierstein tuner. His additional Broadway credits include Smokey Joe’s Café, Grease, Five Guys Named Moe and Miss Saigon. Last year, he made his playwriting debut with the semi-autobiographical While I Yet Live off-Broadway.

The show follows Charlie Price as he is forced to step in and save his family’s shoe factory in Northern England after the sudden death of his father. Help comes from the unlikeliest angel, a fabulous drag performer named Lola. Together, this improbable duo revitalizes the nearly bankrupt business and transforms an entire community through the power of acceptance.

The current Broadway cast includes Andy Kelso as Charlie, Jeanna de Waal as Lauren, Courtney Wolfson as Nicola, Daniel Stewart Sherman as Don and Marcus Neville as George.