Cole Porter wrote for the ear. He composed hundreds of songs that have been adored by audiences for decades. Some 50 years after the songwriter’s death, I wanted to pay him homage in a light that reflected his personality. In order to do so, I had to include Porter’s work throughout the piece. From the first beat to the last, his powerful songs, complete with their resonating lyrics and memorable melodies, ring true. It’s rather interesting to note how he was able to pursue one of his passions so fully and in the public light, while at the same time remaining silent and retaining a component of his core that he could never think to publicly address. Material on the subject is spars and although no scholars or historians question his sexuality, there tends to be few examples illustrating the extent to which this played into his public and private lives. To find the answer, I began exploring his music, where traces and hints of this he purposely left behind.
With this project, I wanted to take audiences on a journey where, if all the dialogue and narration dropped out, the music could tell a complete story. I begin with “Anything Goes” and continue to “You’re the Top”, both numbers that offer a liberal and loving narrative at the beginning, but the songs change towards the end of the piece. I sample “Friendship” and “Let’s Do It” at the end of the piece. Both originally upbeat, I found a more melancholy version of “Let’s Do It” to end the piece with, and I believe it to be all the more impactful. I did this because although Cole was able to find love in his music and his Linda, he was never able to reach his emotional apex because of the social time period he lived in. I chose to fade the song out before the ending in order to deliver an effect of longing – longing for more, longing for a different end to his life – but a longing that would never be reached in Porter’s time.