Billy Porter’s Mona Lisa Moment at the Paramount

Billy Porter performs Tuesday, May 9, at Paramount Theatre (courtesy of Republic Records)

Great art lasts forever. Such was the thought process for Broadway legend Billy Porter when choosing his most recent album title, Black Mona Lisa. It also serves as the title of his multicity-spanning tour, which stops in Austin at the Paramount Theatre on May 9.

The album and tour title came about during a writing session. "The whole room went silent," he recollects on a recent phone call. "We knew we were just onto something magical." Part of the magic was in how the great painting's impact mirrored Porter's own long and impactful career on stage and screen. As a theatre performer, he's starred in massive Broadway hits, including a Tony Award-winning turn in Kinky Boots, and served as a producer on the Tony-winning A Strange Loop. As a screen actor, he won an Emmy for his role in Ryan Murphy's groundbreaking show Pose, which dug into the history of Black queer ballroom culture. "The connection," Porter explains, "is Mona Lisa is forever relevant. Past, present and future. You know, I'm 53 years old. I'm relevant, and I will be forever."

Porter has been to Austin previously as a contributor to UT-Austin's inaugural Texas Musical Theatre Workshop in 2012. He served as director on Giant Steps: An Urbean Musical, and recalls of the stint intense heat and catching Idina Menzel on her own tour. He'll be skipping any ATX socializing this time around. "I don't have any time," Porter says. "I'm in and out. I'm on the bus, I get off the bus, do the concert and come back, get on the bus and go to the next city." That turnaround may seem tight, but Porter has a busy schedule with 25 cities on his five-week tour.

The show consists of 10 new songs off the upcoming album interlaced with iconic songs from Porter's career. In crafting the story told by the show, Porter describes pulling from all eras of his life: Nineties R&B, theatrical show tunes, political anthems, and powerful gospel music, which will all culminate in what he calls a big dance party. "Putting it together is always for me about, what is the arc?" Porter says. "What is the unspoken narrative that will guide people emotionally? ... This work is very emotional. Healing."

One of his newer songs, "Baby Was a Dancer," represents that healing work as it tells his journey toward authenticity as a Black queer man. That difficult trek through a repressive society to finally break through into self-acceptance is one many queer folks have trod before. Porter expresses his hope that the song empowers and sets free those bound by oppressive circumstances, something reflected in his overall description of the 25-city tour as a celebration of life, love, hope, and joy. "My goal is to give the world a big bear hug," he says. "Because we are all in need of a healing. We've all been through collective trauma. We're still in the middle of it. ... Collectively, we can heal together."

Billy Porter's Black Mona Lisa Tour: Volume One, May 9, 7pm, Paramount Theatre, 713 Congress, Austintheatre.org.