Broadway star Billy Porter will duet on classic showtunes with fellow Tony Award winners Leslie Odom Jr. and Cynthia Erivo on his forthcoming new album Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers.
Pop stars India.arie, Ledisi and the Pentatonix will also be highlighted on the Sony Masterworks Broadway album, which will be available for pre-order March 3 ahead of an official release date of April 14.
The album, which features new, soulful takes on classic Richard Rodgers songs from Broadway musicals including Oklahoma!, The Sound of Music, Babes in Arms, South Pacific, and The King and I, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and Lorenz Hart.
“I like to think of this as the Richard Rodgers version of the Hamilton Mixtape,” Porter said.
Porter (Tony winner for Kinky Boots), performs the songs as solos or duets with a roster of artists including Tony and Grammy Award winners Cynthia Erivo (The Color Purple), Renée Elise Goldsberry and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton), Tony Award winner Patina Miller (Pippin), Grammy Award winners Pentatonix and India.Arie, Tony Award nominees Brandon Victor Dixon (Shuffle Along), Joshua Henry (Violet), and Christopher Jackson (Hamilton), alongside fellow Kinky Boots star Todrick Hall and multiple Grammy Award nominees Deborah Cox and Ledisi.
Here is the complete track and artist listing:
1. ”Oh, What a Beautiful Morning” (Pentatonix & Billy Porter)
2. ”My Romance” (Leslie Odom Jr.)
3. ”If I Loved You” (Renée Elise Goldsberry & Christopher Jackson)
4. ”With a Song in My Heart” (Brandon Victor Dixon & Joshua Henry)
5. ”I Have Dreamed” (Patina Miller)
6. ”My Funny Valentine” (Cynthia Erivo)
7. ”I'm Gonna Wash That Man Right Outta My Hair” (Todrick Hall & Billy Porter)
8. ”This Nearly was Mine” (Deborah Cox)
9. ”Bewitched” (Ledisi featuring Zaire Park)
10. ”Carefully Taught” (India.Arie & Billy Porter)
11. ”Lady is a Tramp” (Billy Porter featuring Zaire Park)
12. ”Edelweiss” (Billy Porter)
“These are classic songs that everybody knows and loves, and I’m so excited for people to hear them in a brand new way,” Porter said.
His version of “Edelweiss” can be previewed on iTunes. Click here to listen to the sample.
Later this month Porter will launch a national tour in support of the album. Here is the full tour schedule:
March 19 – Queensborough Performing Arts Center, Bayside, New York
March 29 – Embassy Theater, Fort Wayne, Indiana
March 31 – Ocean Reef Cultural Center, Key Largo, Florida
April 2 – Aventura Arts, Aventura, Florida
April 3 & 4 – Crest Theater, Delray Beach, Florida
April 6 – Nugent-Custer Performance Hall – Columbus, Indiana
April 7 & 8 – The Columbia Club, Indianapolis, Indiana
April 21 – Adelphi, Garden City, New York
April 22 – Kean University, Union, New Jersey
May 5 – Emelin Theater, Mamaroneck, New York
May 14 – Venetian Room, San Francisco, California
May 20 – Goodman Theatre Gala, Fairmont Hotel, Chicago, Illinois
June 17 – Playhouse Square Gala, Cleveland, Ohio
July 15 – Willow Valley Communities Cultural Center Theater, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
August 14 – Bay Street Playhouse, Sag Harbor, New York
August 19 & 20 – Paramount Theater, Provincetown, Massachusetts
Billy Porter Presents The Soul of Richard Rodgers marks Porter’s fourth studio album, and his first as producer and content curator, with collaborators James Sampliner and Michael “Lofey” Sandlofer.
