‘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.”