VISUAL ARTS + MUSEUMS

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents their July Artful Thursday: Cole Porter - Famous and Forgotten,  Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 6:30 PM, at the Caroline Wiess Law Building.  Presented by Michael Lasser, host of the nationally syndicated public radio show Fascinatin’ Rhythm, with singers Alan Jones and Cindy Miller.

Alongside renowned names such as George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers, Cole Porter (1891–1964) ranked as one of the most successful composers of Broadway musicals for more than three decades. Born to a wealthy Midwestern family, Porter began to write songs while he was still in prep school. His first Broadway show, See America First (1916), was a flop. Soon thereafter, Porter moved to Paris, a city that—like New York—he would celebrate over and over in song. The musical Fifty Million Frenchmen, Porter’s first big hit, debuted in 1929, marking the beginning of his prolific Broadway career.

Porter wrote comic songs that underscored his ingenuity and irreverence, and love songs that throbbed with a heady mix of eroticism and romance. His sophisticated, suggestive lyrics, clever rhymes, and complex musical forms stood in marked contrast to the sentimentality of most American popular music in the first half of the 20th century.

At tonight's Artful Thursday, Michael Lasser talks about what makes Porter’s style so distinctive and why the forgotten songs are often as good as Porter's most famous. 

Admission is free and open to the public. A reception follows the program. Register to win great giveaways from KUHF 88.7 FM and the MFAH. Artful Thursday programs receive generous funding from the Rockwell Fund. Promotional support is generously provided by KUHF 88.7 FM, Houston Public Radio. Refreshments generously provided by the Buffalo Speedway Starbucks (corner of Buffalo Speedway and Westpark), Carla Everett, manager, and the Rice Village Starbucks, Jenna Ortiz, manager.

Pictured:  Cole Porter.