PORTERIANA

Speranza

Cole Porter graduated from Yale in 1913.


There was a strong relationship of Cole Porter with Yale.


Porter was a great champion of civil entertainment.

He wanted people to be enjoying themselves in the theater. Period.

---- courtesy of R. Kimball, as published in The Yale Daily News.


The Graduate Club was the site of the Cole Porter Swing Dance, featuring performances by the Bales-Gitlin Band.


We can provid an operatic rendition of “In the Still of the Night.”

“Easy to Love,”

“Goodbye Little Dream, Goodbye.”

two of Porter’s hits — “At Long Last Love” and “My Heart Belongs to Daddy.”


There's history behind the five songs.

Each was composed in the 1930s, the peak of Porter’s career.

The origins of “At Long Last Love” revealed Porter’s dedication to his art — having been thrown from a horse, the composer thought of the song’s iconic lines as he lay prostrate on the ground.

 “Cole Porter at Yale,” an essay that will appear in a 2014 book commemorating the 50th anniversary of Porter’s death.


The excerpt depicts the arrival of the freshman class of 1913, a celebration that included “torchlight parades” and the “shepherding” of freshmen to York Street.

Porter, who came to Yale from Indiana, had to reinvent himself.

Porter was an outsider, but he had a wonderful time at Yale.

A boy who mostly roomed alone to play piano into the night, Porter got his start in songwriting by composing football songs.

By the time he graduated, Porter had written “Bingo Eli Yale” and “Bulldog.”

Also involved in multiple music groups and the Yale Dramat, Porter composed FOUR musicals for Yale productions, as well as an additional show after he graduated.

After failing to succeed on Broadway with “See America First,” Porter returned to Yale, writing the score for the Dramat’s 1925 production of “Out of Luck.”

Yale gave him his start in musical theater.

He was forever grateful to Yale for that.

During the 1930s, Porter became the foremost person in musical theater.

He composed nine Broadway shows that ran for over a year, surpassing all other composers to date.

His risqué lyrics received a great deal of controversy — “I’ll Get A Kick Out Of You” mentioned cocaine, while the lyrics of “Love For Sale,” a song about a prostitute, were censored across national airwaves.

Porter was a man who began the tradition of writing adult songs for musical theater.

His willingness to take chances made it easier for lyric writers to tackle any subject.


The first song was operatic. The second was like he was speaking to you, like it was a cabaret. And of course,  a singer needs a great presence.

There's a beautiful narrative that noves the love and dedication for Porter.

We see the composer as more than just a great songwriter, adding that the songs reinforced our love for Yale.

Cole Porter, as a proud son of Yale and as one of the most accomplished songwriters in history, gives every Yale musical theater composer, writer and performer (and others) permission to dream big and to pursue their own voice in the next generation of writers and thinkers in this great American art form.