Cole Porter

Cole Porter wrote both the music and the lyrics for his shows, and his witty, worldly songs became a cornerstone of the Great American Songbook. Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate have both returned to Broadway in major revivals.

Who Cole Porter was

Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana, in 1891 to a wealthy family. He studied at Yale, where he wrote football fight songs and college shows, then briefly attended Harvard Law School before switching to music. In 1919 he married Linda Lee Thomas, and the couple spent much of the 1920s living in Europe.

Unlike most Broadway composers, Porter wrote his own lyrics, and he was a master of the list song, piling up clever comparisons as in You're the Top. His songs are sophisticated and often slyly suggestive, with rich chromatic melodies and a fondness for Latin American and other foreign dance rhythms, as in Begin the Beguine. In 1937 a horseback riding accident crushed his legs and left him in pain for the rest of his life, yet many of his biggest hits came afterward. After his right leg was amputated in 1958 he never wrote another song, and he died in 1964.

Cole Porter's Broadway shows

Porter's first Broadway show, See America First (1916), was a quick failure. Success came with Paris (1928), which introduced Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love, and Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929). Gay Divorce (1932) gave Fred Astaire Night and Day.

Anything Goes (1934), starring Ethel Merman, ran 420 performances, a long run for the 1930s. Jubilee (1935) and Red, Hot and Blue (1936) had shorter runs but introduced Begin the Beguine and It's De-Lovely, and Leave It to Me! (1938) introduced Mary Martin singing My Heart Belongs to Daddy. DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), Panama Hattie (1940), Let's Face It! (1941), Something for the Boys (1943), and Mexican Hayride (1944) all ran 400 performances or more.

After the flop Around the World (1946), Porter had his greatest triumph with Kiss Me, Kate (1948), his only show to run more than 1,000 performances. He followed it with Out of This World (1950), Can-Can (1953), which featured I Love Paris, and Silk Stockings (1955), his last Broadway musical.

Awards, legacy, and where to start

Kiss Me, Kate won the very first Tony Award for Best Musical in 1949, and Porter won the Tony for his music and lyrics. He also wrote for Hollywood, including Born to Dance (1936) and High Society (1956), and his life inspired two biopics, Night and Day (1946) with Cary Grant and De-Lovely (2004) with Kevin Kline. Singers from Ella Fitzgerald to Frank Sinatra made his songs jazz and pop standards.

Newcomers should start with Anything Goes, ideally the cast album of the 2011 Broadway revival starring Sutton Foster. Then move to Kiss Me, Kate, where Another Op'nin', Another Show, So in Love, and Brush Up Your Shakespeare show Porter at the height of his powers.

Cole Porter: frequently asked questions

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