‘So in love’ with the songs of Cole Porter
Jennifer K Mahal
She’s got Cole Porter under her skin. For the past few months,
Andrea Marcovicci has immersed herself in the sophisticated
songwriter, preparing for “So In Love,” a one-woman show of his love
songs that will debut Sunday at the Irvine Barclay Theatre as part of
the Eclectic Orange Festival.
“Obviously, we’re a great fit, he and I,” the 55-year-old cabaret
star said on the phone from her L.A. home. “We’re a great match.”
Marcovicci, called “The Callas of Cabaret” by the Philadelphia
Inquirer, is best known for her programs featuring the works of Kurt
Weill, Irving Berlin and Noel Coward. She started her career in the
daytime TV series “Love is a Many Splendored Thing.” Her numerous
credits include appearing in “The Front,” a film with Woody Allen,
and on Broadway opposite Howard Keel in “The Ambassador.”
Marcovicci, who said her joy is in researching the stories behind
songs, found the task of putting together a Porter show “daunting.”
She didn’t find the key to her show until she decided to concentrate
on the relationship between Porter and his wife, Linda.
“I tell their real story,” said Marcovicci, who will be
accompanied by pianist Shelly Markham. “The real truth about the love
affair between the two of them.”
Porter was gay, but his wife was not. The wealthy Linda Porter was
older than her husband. It was her sophistication, Marcovicci said,
that made Cole Porter into the man he became.
“It’s fascinating the life he led because of her,” said the
artist, who has recorded 10 CDs. “She really took him under her wing
and sophisticated him, as it were.”
Learning about their relationship gave her a different perspective
on Porter’s music. Marcovicci had always found the songwriter to be
too harsh and glittery, unlike the soft sweetness of contemporaries
George and Ira Gershwin.
“I thought he was brittle and cynical, and I was wrong,” she said.
“I think I had to grow up to deserve him.”
Although you might hear a few familiar songs, don’t expect the
night to be filled with Porter standards. Marcovicci combed through
Porter archives to find songs that have rarely been performed, like
“Aren’t We Fools.” Story has it that Porter wrote that song for Fanny
Brice in 1927. She sang it once or twice on the shores of the Riviera
and then put it away because it was too hard for her to perform it in
front of Nick Arnstein, the love of her life.
Marcovicci said the show is a work in progress. However, it’s not
as fluid as when Porter was alive and writing. In those days, new
songs would be put in every night.
“Ethel Merman loved learning in rehearsal, but the closer to the
show, she’d get testy,” Marcovicci said. “At some point she’d say,
‘Call me Miss Birdseye, the show is frozen.’”
After its debut at the Barclay, the Porter show will anchor
Marcovicci’s annual holiday engagement in the Oak Room at the
Algonquin Hotel in New York. It’s an event to bring your sweetheart
to, the singer said.
“Cole Porter is so sexy. The songs just emanate and resonate
passion and romance.”
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