Billy Porter to Star in All-Male Reading of Dido, Queen of Carthage

Broadway veteran Billy Porter will star in the title role in a reading of Christopher Marlowe’s Dido, Queen of Carthage, newly adapted by Jason Williamson, and presented at the 14th Street Y, on Thursday, May 27 at 5pm, Friday May 28 at 5pm, and Tuesday June 1 at 8pm. Ed Sylvanus Iskandar will direct.

This rarely-performed drama is being presented with an all-male cast as part of the “Anybody but Shakespeare Classics Festival,” presented by (re:) Directions Theatre Company. The cast will also feature Dan Amboyer, Nic Cory, Rich Dreher, Nick Lehane, Leslie Odom, Jr., Jeffrey Omura, Larry Powell, Liam Rhodes, and David Winters.

Days after the massacre of Troy, the only survivors find themselves shipwrecked on the African shores of Carthage, where lonely Dido reigns. The Queen offers the Trojan men sanctuary, until the jealousies of the gods fling her into a passionate affair with their ravaged leader, Aeneas (Amboyer). Soon, the love between a Queen and a soldier threatens to rip the kingdom at the seams.

Porter’s Broadway credits include Miss Saigon, Five Guys Named Moe, Smokey Joe’s Café, and Grease. Porter won “Vocalist of the Year” on the original Star Search, and his film, The Broken Hearts Club, won the G.L.A.A.D. Media Award at the Sundance Festival. He is expected to play the role of Belize in the forthcoming Angels in America revival at Signature.