First up is the annual gala presentation, which will be “Bat Boy: The Musical” (Oct. 29-Nov. 9). This irreverent horror-rock musical, inspired by stories from a supermarket tabloid, centers on a cave-dwelling creature (Bat Boy) who searches for acceptance and love in a small town. It will be helmed by Alex Timbers, who won a Tony Award in 2021 for directing “Moulin Rouge! The Musical.” The story and book are by Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming, with music and lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe (“Legally Blonde: The Musical”).
Next, the Encores! series will begin with a production of the supernatural musical comedy “High Spirits” (Feb. 4-15), based on Noël Coward’s 1941 play “Blithe Spirit” about a man coping with his dead wife’s ghost. Though the musical, whose score and book are by Hugh Martin (“Meet Me in St. Louis”) and Timothy Gray, was nominated for eight Tonys, it won none and was never revived on Broadway. It will be directed by Jessica Stone (“Kimberly Akimbo,” “Water for Elephants”).
It will be followed in the spring by a revival of Michael John LaChiusa and George C. Wolfe’s hedonistic “The Wild Party” (March 18-29). Set in the Roaring Twenties, the show, which is inspired by a 1928 poem by Joseph Moncure March, is a Jazz Age musical about lust, death and substance abuse. Lili-Anne Brown will direct.
Finally, Porter (“Kinky Boots”, “Pose”) and the director Robert O’Hara (“Slave Play”) will team up on “La Cage aux Folles” (June 17-28), with an all-Black cast. Porter will headline as Albin, the star attraction at a nightclub managed by his romantic partner, Georges. The 1983 musical, with a book by Harvey Fierstein (“Torch Song Trilogy,” “Kinky Boots”) and music and lyrics by Jerry Herman (“Hello, Dolly!”, “Mame”), was the first Broadway musical to focus on a homosexual relationship. It won six Tony Awards, including best musical.
“We tell gay stories a lot onstage, but it’s not often that we get to center voices that are also marginalized because of their background,” Gersten said.