O’Hara’s La Cage Aux Folles Opens Through June 28 as Billy Porter, Wayne Brady Read From Scripts
Updated
Updated · New York Theater · Jun 18
O’Hara’s La Cage Aux Folles Opens Through June 28 as Billy Porter, Wayne Brady Read From Scripts
3 articles · Updated · New York Theater · Jun 18
Summary
Opening night at New York City Center suggested Robert O’Hara’s Encores “La Cage Aux Folles” is still finding its footing, with Billy Porter and Wayne Brady charismatic but largely reading from scripts.
O’Hara updates the 1983 musical with an all-Black cast and individualized 21st-century drag-club styling, yet that modernized look muddies the period and weakens the farcical plot built around a son asking his gay parents to pose as straight.
The review argues that premise feels especially strained in 2026, when same-sex marriage has been legal nationwide since 2015 and debates over LGBTQ rights have shifted, making the show’s original plea for tolerance seem limited.
Even so, the production draws energy from its design and choreography—especially Alaman Diadhiou’s tap work in Dormeshia’s numbers—while the Encores run continues through June 28.