Jayvee Music Reviews with Jeff Vallet

It’s been almost a decade since the Pittsburgh-born Billy Porter released a solo album, and since then much has changed for the award-winning artist, who grew up singing in the Pentecostal church.

His latest is right there with the best he has ever produced. Featuring 10 classics made famous on the Great White Way that focus on inspiration, empowerment and hope, the album’s title is a nod to Sammy Davis Jr.’s recording Sammy’s Back on Broadway.

“The canon of great Broadway songs is so vast, and I have so many favorites that the only way I could narrow them down was to choose a theme,” Porter says of the songs on Billy’s Back on Broadway.

“Once I settled on what I wanted to say and the journey I wanted the listener to take, the songs made their presence known rather quickly.”

Cyndi Lauper, the Grammy, Emmy and Tony Award-winning rock icon who penned the score for Kinky Boots, makes a special guest appearance on the album, singing a duet with Porter on “Happy Days/Get Happy,” a tune made famous by Streisand and Judy Garland.

“It’s been unbelievable to be given the opportunity to circle back to the original dream, which for me started way back in the ’80s in Pittsburgh, when I dreamed of one day being a Broadway star,” Porter says.

Now the winner of every major theater award – including the 2013 Tony Award for Best Actor in a musical – Porter is truly living the dream.

Broadway is such a special place. All the songs on Billy Porter’s new album are performed in a way that will bring you back to a special time. Billy Porter delivers a knock-out performance!