Cole Porter's musical revue, despite gathering dust for 86 years, is not set to make its American Broadway debut with an all-star cast. The musical is entitled, "The Ambassador Revue", and it is scheduled to hit the stage on the 27th of June.
This play represents a lot of Cole Porter's style of work, such as saucy showgirls, soaring ballads, and lyrics that are filled with double entendres. The play will be first shown in New York's Town Hall, and it will be featuring musical arrangements by The Nighthawks and Vince Giordano. In addition to that, it will also be directed by famous theater historian Ken Bloom.
The play takes its name from a prestigious Ambassadeurs nightclub in Paris. This was actually where the musical was first performed in 1928. However, the play quickly disappeared after that. During this time, none of the sheet music was made available in the United States. Still, despite this issue, Cole Porter continued to compose iconic musicals, such as "Kiss Me, Kate" and "Anything Goes."
Giordano said, "For me, this is like finding a new Picasso or a new Rembrandt. I wish I would've found this 20 years ago. This is just one of those things where the planets came together in a specific moment. We're just so thrilled."
Other music artists, such as Amy Burton, Anita Gillette, and Tom Wopat were asked about Porter's musical work before the June 27 debut.
Wopat answered, "This stuff pre-dates most of Cole Porter's big work. So, it's kind of seminal. It shows the roots of what he later developed, but there are a lot of Porter-isms in this music and it's a lot of fun to perform. It'll be a revelation to people."
Giordano also shared, "People ask me, 'Is this music like other Cole Porter music?' But that's the one thing about Cole Porter. He never repeated himself. He always went out on a limb and tried to come up with something new and fresh. That's an amazing accomplishment."
