It’s no coincidence that Pray Tell (Billy Porter), the emcee with the raspy golden voice in Pose, injects whole albums worth of musicality in the words he speaks while commandeering the ballroom floor: Billy Porter is an accomplished Broadway vet, best known for winning a Tony for portraying Lola in Kinky Boots.
Porter: One of the things that I am really proud of is that I trained as a classical actor at Carnegie Mellon.
While Porter pumps Pray Tell full of joy and pastiche whether in the ballroom or when playing sister to Blanca or godfather Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain), Porter also knows a lot about the suffering Pray Tell experienced too.
I had a really hard time when I first came to New York City; I was pigeonholed into being The Coon Show.