Like Chaka Khan’s era-bending 1995 rendition of Rodgers and Hart’s “My Funny Valentine,” selections from classic songbooks virtually cry out for re-interpretation by contemporary artists. It is in that spirit that Billy Porter pursues his latest artistic endeavor, rethinking the songwriting half of the duo’s entire repertoire, by infusing elements of every Black music genre — jazz, blues, soul, R&B, hip-hop and gospel — into works that have become part of the Americana canon.

Just don’t suggest that the veteran Broadway performer, who teamed with the Ebony Repertory Theatre to present the fruit of his labor to L.A. audiences this weekend, is trying to breathe new life into material, with a new project that hones in on Richard Rodgers’ lyrical flexibility.

“That’s not even possible,” he said on a telephone call from Pittsburgh, where he was headlining the opening of the new August Wilson Center. “Rodgers’ songs are standard, everybody knows them. So to sort of reach back, we’re bringing a different kind of life to the songs — not new life — but a different kind of life that speaks to a new generation in the language that the new generation is familiar with.”

He added: “Oftentimes you don’t understand something until you see it or hear it in a language that you’re familiar with, and I don’t know if people know that that was a Rodgers and Hart song, but when Chaka Khan redid it in 1995, it sounded like a song that was written that day.”

Called “The Soul of Rodgers,” the revue, which also features performances by Broadway mainstay Shoshana Bean and rising R&B star Ledisi, has dual purposes: demonstrating the timelessness of the source material, and forcing audiences to acknowledge the razor-thin divides, too often drawn along racial lines, that exist in cultural values.

In the show, Porter himself performs two selections: a hip-hop and gospel-inflected version of “The Lady is a Tramp,” as well as “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” As for the latter, he’s keeping the genre twist as a surprise for opening night.

“The … Rodgers songbook is so recognizable and the melodies are so transcendent that it’s quite remarkable, that songs that were written so long ago are still so beautiful,” said Porter, who performed a similar reworking of the Stephen Sondheim songbook in a show called “Being Alive,” which was performed in East Coast cities. “That’s a testament to really good songwriting. Music is the universal language. So when you have good melodies, they transcend any time periods and they cross cultures — and that’s exciting.”

In all, more than 30 Rodgers songs — including “My Favorite Things,” “Falling in Love with Love” and “Some Enchanted Evening” — will be performed. The event doubles as a kickoff to a monthlong, citywide celebration of all things Rodgers that includes a series of concerts, symposiums, staged readings, screenings and cabarets saluting his work.

As the Ebony Repertory winds down its inaugural season, artistic director Wren Brown dispelled any notion that the communities served by his company are not familiar enough with Rodgers’ work to fully appreciate what Porter has accomplished. “Those are some of the great fallacies that still exist out there about our communities,” he said. “We are very much aware … The idea of introducing new generations to authentic standards is wonderful. I think that’s what Natalie Cole did when she performed ‘Mona Lisa’ with her father, Nat King Cole, many years later through technology.”

In conversation, Brown singles out Porter’s abilities for high praise.

“Richard Rodgers is one of the greatest voices that ever produced for American theater, so to be included in celebrating this legacy of this brilliant, brilliant man, … it is such an extraordinary honor,” Brown said. “To re-imagine a lot of that work that is so known to so many is exciting, and then to have Billy Porter and his particular brand of genius direct the show, be the writer and arranger and among the performers, is genius.”

The Soul of Rodgers was performed Oct. 2-3 at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., Los Angeles. For other performances celebrating Richard Rodgers, please call (323) 964-9766.