Cole Porter: Badass

Most people don’t consider Cole Porter much of a badass. He came from privilege, went Ivy League all the way and spent much of his life partying in Paris like a gay Gatsby. But underneath all the frivolity and fun, Porter lived with excruciating pain. An equestrian accident left him...

By Jennifer Davis-Lamm

June 7, 2012

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Most people don’t consider Cole Porter much of a badass. He came from privilege, went Ivy League all the way and spent much of his life partying in Paris like a gay Gatsby. But underneath all the frivolity and fun, Porter lived with excruciating pain. An equestrian accident left him with compound fractures in both legs. It’s said that he wrote “At Long Last Love” in the hours after the incident while waiting for medical attention. That’s pretty badass in and of itself, but the injuries left Porter with a painful and difficult-to-treat infection and required a series of brutal surgeries. Yet Porter pressed on. It’s amazing and uplifting to hear the uptempo and bouncy tunes he penned while battling the kind of pain that would debilitate many. I think that’s why Porter’s legacy lives on, despite the fact that many of his tunes are nearing their 80th birthday — he was a stone cold badass who gritted his teeth and sang cheerfully through the pain. The Dallas Symphony Orchestra proves just how resilient Porter really was as they roll through his standards during their Cole Porter Tribute with Michael Feinstein and Marvin Hamlisch on Friday and Saturday at the Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. Performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets are $95 to $160 and may be purchased at dallassymphony.com.
Fri., June 8, 8 p.m., 2012

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