Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-02-22
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

Billy Porter discusses his fashion choices, personal ambitions
by Tim Nasson
2023-01-30

This article shared 4265 times since Mon Jan 30, 2023
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


Billy Porter—the Tony, Emmy and Grammy winner—needs no introduction—especially to the many fans of his character Pray Tell on Ryan Murphy's hit TV series Pose.

Coming up exclusively in theaters Feb. 3, Porter will star as a Super Bowl half-time show choreographer, opposite Oscar winners Sally Field, Rita Moreno and Jane Fonda, as well as Tony-winner Lily Tomlin, in the feel-good comedy "80 For Brady," a comic homage to popular quarterback Tom Brady.

Porter rocketed to superstardom when he originated the role of Lola in the Tony winning Broadway musical Kinky Boots just over ten years ago. But show business was always in his blood.

"I started singing in church at a very young age," he said. By fifth grade the bullying had stopped, and in middle school I got involved with theater. I dreamed about being on Broadway and becoming the male Whitney Houston."

Porter knew he was was onto something when he won $100,000 on Star Search in 1992, but he never expected success would come easy.

"I took all of the necessary steps to prepare myself for a career in show business," he says. "There have been moments of frustration, but no one is entitled to anything.

"I've practiced acting every day for decades. I went to Carnegie Mellon. I went to graduate school at UCLA. To this day, I still take singing lessons. I have the patience of Job. My best advice for anyone who wants to become a professional is to practice—even when no one is looking."

Porter prepared himself for a trajectory in acting and a career in fashion by making sure he always looked the part. "I decided at a very young age to dress for the job I wanted, not the job I have," he explains.

The "Oscar dress," which made Porter a viral sensation, wasn't something that just happened. In 2013, while Porter was in Chicago doing previews of "Kinky Boots", he met with fans at the stage door after every performance. "It was right at the time when social media was taking off, especially Instagram photos, and I was dressing geek chic.

"When I looked at the news the day after the first performance I saw pictures of myself and I looked like a bag lady. From that moment on, I dressed up every day. After every show, before I went out the stage door to go home, I dressed up."

From then on, any candid photos that people did take of Porter were not only flattering but trend-setting. "For three years, while I was on Broadway with Kinky Boots, I dressed up after every performance, just to go out to the car to go home."

In 2019, just a year before the pandemic hit, Porter started to gain attention for some of the most fabulous outfits that have ever adorned any human. At the Grammy Awards, he wore an embroidered suit and pink cape. That same year, at the Academy Awards, he wore the famous black fitted tuxedo and velvet gown created by Christian Siriano, accompanied by 6-inch Rick Owens boots.

The gender-fluid outfits worn by Porter that are now famous the world over were not intended to be labeled. "All of the outfits I have worn aligned with the roles I was playing. The term 'non-binary' never occurred to me."

When I suggested Porter has become an inspiration for celebs such as Harry Styles—who posed on the cover of Vogue last year in a Gucci dress—he replied,"You said that, not me."

He then admitted, "I have a calling. It is funneled through artistry."


This article shared 4265 times since Mon Jan 30, 2023
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

Opera Preview: Life of gay World War II hero Alan Turing transformed into a world-premiere opera
2023-03-17
It has taken a decade for The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing to grow from an idea into a full- fledged opera. Chicago Opera Theater stages the world premiere of composer Justine F. Chen and ...


Gay News

Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project to present dance concert 'Sans Pareil'
2023-03-14
--From a press release - Deeply Rooted Dance Theater joins the Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project again to take the stage in a dance concert entitled Sans Pareil—French for "unparalleled," a nod to the Haitian lineage of Chicago's founder, Jean-Baptiste Pointe ...


Gay News

House Musical, Coming of Age in the Age of House, coming to Hoover-Leppen Theatre
2023-03-14
--From a press release - Campsongs Productions presents the world premiere of House Musical - Coming of Age in the Age of House, with book by Marcus Waller, music by Scott Free (with Michael Foley) and lyrics by Scott Free and ...


Gay News

RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD in Chicago Aug. 4
2023-03-12
--From a press release - RuPaul's Drag Race WERQ THE WORLD, the largest drag show on earth, returns in 2023 with a show in Chicago Aug. 4 and in 100+ cities across the United States, Canada, Australia, Asia, Europe and Mexico! ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Little Richard, Indigo Girls, Rodriguez's honor, dance film, Pedro Pascal
2023-03-10
Video below - Produced by Bungalow Media + Entertainment for CNN Films and HBO Max, in association with Rolling Stone Films, director Lisa Cortes' Sundance opening-night documentary Little Richard: I Am Everything will debut in theaters and on VOD ...


Gay News

NATIONAL Folx Health, gay mayor arrested, powerlifter's suit, Versace visit
2023-03-10
Boston-based Folx Health—which provides primary healthcare services and gender-affirming healthcare to LGBTQIA people—made Fast Company's list of the world's 50 most innovative businesses. A few of the other healthcare companies ...


Gay News

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's 2023 Gala May 13 at The Old Post Office
2023-03-06
--From a press release - CHICAGO (March 6, 2023) — The Steppenwolf Ensemble and Board of Trustees are pleased to host Steppenwolf 2023 Gala—an unforgettable evening celebrating 47 years of powerful and thought-provoking storytelling. Emceed ...


Gay News

Center on Halsted presents annual Intergenerational Talent Show
2023-03-06
On March 2, Center on Halsted hosted its Fifth Annual Intergenerational Talent Show, featuring performances from participants from the Youth and Family Services and the Senior Services programs. Participants in the free event presented a program ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Wanda Sykes, Jonas Brothers, 'Queen of Versailles,' 'Bloodshed'
2023-03-04
Adam Lambert video below - Award-winning comedian Wanda Sykes' new comedy special, I'm An Entertainer, will premiere globally on Netflix on May 23, a press release announced. The special, directed by Linda Mendoza, was filmed in early February 2023 at Philadelphia's ...


Gay News

LGBTQ+ groups criticize Tenn. bill that bans access to medical care for trans youth
2023-03-03
--From a press release - NASHVILLE — On March 2, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed into law HB1/SB1, a bill that prohibits transgender-related healthcare in Tennessee for people under the age of 18. The bill is set to take effect on ...


Gay News

Theater Review: one in two
2023-03-01
Playwright: Donja R. Love. At: PrideArts at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway Tickets: 773-857-0222; $35. Runs through March 19 Playwright Donja R. Love stresses that lower case letters should be used for the title of ...


Gay News

The Jeff Awards to honor Myrna Salazar with special non-Equity honor
2023-03-01
--From a Jeff Awards press release - (March 1, 2023 - Chicago) — Recognizing a lifetime of theater excellence, the Joseph Jefferson Awards will honor the late arts activist Myrna Salazar at the organization's 49th Anniversary Non-Equity Awards celebration on Monday, March 2 ...


Gay News

Elections 2023: Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez vies for second term representing the 33rd Ward
2023-02-28
This is part of a series of interviews Windy City Times is running on LGBTQ+ candidates in the 2023 municipal elections taking place Feb. 28. Youth educator and activist Rosanna Rodriguez Sanchez is seeking her second ...


Gay News

More LGBTQ PoC report barriers to academic achievement than white LGBTQ peers
2023-02-23
--From a Williams Institute press release - A new study from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, conducted in collaboration with the Point Foundation, the nation's largest LGBTQ scholarship nonprofit, finds more than twice as many LGBTQ POC as white LGBTQ ...


Gay News

PrideArts presents 'one in two'
2023-02-22
--From a press release - Title: one in two. By Donja R. Love/ Directed by Jordan Ratlliff Monday, Feb. 20 - 7:30 p.m. Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago One in two Black men in America who have sex with other men will be diagnosed ...


 




Copyright © 2023 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives. Single copies of back issues in print form are
available for $4 per issue, older than one month for $6 if available,
by check to the mailing address listed below.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.
All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transegender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.