LATER LIFE LEARNING
SERIES A: Let’s Do It! The Music of Cole Porter
Mondays, 10.00 – Noon, September 19 to November 28, 2016
No class October 10, 2016 for Thanksgiving
Innis College, Town Hall
Lecturer: Linda Beck. Linda has spent countless hours studying Cole Porter and tracking
down as many of his songs and shows as possible. She has taught a course on Cole Porter at the
Ryerson Life Institute and gives talks to groups in the community about him and other creative
geniuses of the 1920s and beyond.
Cole Porter stands out among 20th Century songwriters for his witty and sophisticated lyrics and
unforgettable melodies. Porter’s songs reflect the unique nature of his life. No typical Tin Pan
Alley composer, he was wealthy, well educated and widely traveled, and he socialized with
celebrities and titled aristocrats.
Week 1 (September 19): The outsider from Indiana (1891-1913)
Cole Porter was the elegant bad boy of the music scene in the early 20th century. His songs
reflect a world of privilege, an eagerness to delight, and a brilliant, creative mind. During these
years, Broadway was developing its American identity through shows like George M. Cohan’s
Little Johnny Jones, but European-styled operettas were still popular.
Week 2 (September 26): The move to Europe (1913-1922)
After a disappointing debut on Broadway, Cole moved to Europe, got married, and spent a decade
cultivating an elite social life, writing songs for his friends. Americans who knew of him in the
early 1920s saw a playboy who sometimes wrote clever songs to entertain himself. In New York,
audiences loved the Ziegfeld Follies and shows by Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern.
Week 3 (October 3): Broadway and Venice (1923-1928)
Broadway blossomed while Cole Porter was enjoying the high life in Europe. He helped AfricanAmericans like Bricktop and Leslie Hutchinson establish their careers. Meanwhile, on Broadway,
Irving Berlin, Rodgers and Hart, and Jerome Kern (with Oscar Hammerstein II) were creating
runaway successes, and Show Boat changed the direction of musical theatre with its serious
content.
OCTOBER 10: THANKSGIVING – NO CLASS!
Week 4 (October 17): The beginning of the Great Depression (1929-1931)
The Great Depression and the growing popularity of “talkies” caused Broadway producers to cut
back on the spectacle in some of their shows, but Cole Porter was back on Broadway and his
career took off, with hit songs like “Let’s Do It” and hit shows like Fifty Million Frenchmen.
While Jay Gorney and Yip Harburg wrote “Brother, Can You Spare a Dime”, Cole Porter’s
shows offered witty escape.
Innis College  University of Toronto  2 Sussex Avenue  Toronto, ON  M5S 1J5 
Website: http://sites.utoronto.ca/innis/lll/
Email: [email protected]
LATER LIFE LEARNING
Week 5 (October 24): Fame and fortune (1932-1936)
By this time greatly popular, Porter wrote some of his best shows, including Gay Divorce and
Anything Goes. Following the success of the latter, Louis B. Mayer offered Cole a Hollywood
contract; Cole wrote film scores for Born to Dance and Rosalie, as well as Red, Hot and Blue for
Broadway. Notable shows of the period included the Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and On Your
Toes, by Rodgers and Hart.
Week 6 (October 31): Hollywood and a series of crises (1937-1940)
Cole suffered severe injury in a horseback riding accident, and he reacted by working harder than
ever, creating Leave It to Me, Du Barry was a Lady, and Panama Hattie for Broadway and
Broadway Melody of 1940 for Hollywood. Kurt Weill had recently moved to New York, and with
Knickerbocker Holiday Weill joined the roster of Broadway creators.
Week 7 (November 7): The midst of World War II (1941-1943)
The War serves as background in Cole Porter’s movies and shows of this period. Many other
Broadway shows were moving in new directions: Pal Joey introduced an anti-hero; Lady in the
Dark dealt with Freudian psychoanalysis; Carmen Jones adapted the Bizet opera to an all black
cast; and Oklahoma made revolutionary advances integrating music and drama.
Week 8 (November 14): Decline and rebound (1944-1950)
Although many of Porter’s songs in mid 1940s became popular, his films and shows often
flopped, and he came to believe his career was over. But in Kiss Me, Kate he created his
masterpiece. Broadway held additional attractions at the time, including Bernstein’s On the Town,
Berlin’s Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madam, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific,
and Frank Loesser’s Guys and Dolls.
Week 9 (November 21): Personal losses (1950-1956)
The 1950s were a difficult period: Porter endured the death of his wife and his mother, and his
own health deteriorated further. Porter’s last Broadway shows included Can-Can and Silk
Stockings and his last original film score was High Society. Broadway audiences were also
enjoying Damn Yankees by Richard Adler and Jerry Ross, The Most Happy Fella by Loesser, and
My Fair Lady by Lerner and Loewe.
Week 10 (November 28): Last years and legacy (1957-1964)
Cole Porter created one more show, the TV special Aladdin. After its disappointing reception, he
stopped writing music and endured years of devastating health crises. While Broadway featured
shows like West Side Story (Bernstein), The Music Man, (Willson) and Gypsy (Styne and
Sondheim), Porter lived in seclusion. But what a legacy he left! Young people may not know his
name, but his songs endure.
Innis College  University of Toronto  2 Sussex Avenue  Toronto, ON  M5S 1J5 
Website: http://sites.utoronto.ca/innis/lll/
Email: [email protected]