PERU, Ind. (AP) - Cole Porter was one of America’s most famous composers known for his hit Broadway songs and big-city suavity.
But the man who became famous for his cosmopolitan lifestyle and catchy tunes such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” was born and raised in the small town of Peru.
In fact, he did some of his first composing there as a child in the early 1900s at his house at 19 S. Huntington St., which has since been turned into the Cole Porter Inn.
Now, Peru is set to celebrate its hometown superstar during the annual Cole Porter Festival, which kicks off Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Festival Chairman Ellen Mock said the four-day affair is packed with a smorgasbord of events that highlight Porter’s history, music and high-class lifestyle, including wine tastings, a cocktail buffet, bus tours to historic sites in Peru and loads of live music.
The festival will be bigger than ever this year thanks to the city’s Second Saturday event, which will also take on a Cole-Porter theme for its downtown activities from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday. The monthly event launched in May as part of an effort to revitalize the city’s core.
“We think Second Saturday will provide another family-friendly activity to get people downtown during the festival,” Mock said.
The festival kicks off Thursday with a wine tasting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cole Porter Inn. Smitty McMusselman’s is producing the event in cooperation with Two E’s Winery, which will include 12 wines to taste. Reservations are required and the cost is $25 per person.
The Progressive Porter dinner runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, which gives patrons the chance to move from restaurant to restaurant to enjoy dinner courses Porter himself suggested during dinner parties he hosted in the 1960s at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York City.
Courses include crab bisque, steak béarnaise and pot au crème du chocolat. Reservations are required, and patrons may choose anything on the restaurant’s menu.
At 10 a.m. Friday, the Roxy 5 Theater will show the classic 1946 movie and Cole Porter biopic “Night and Day” free of charge. Mock said Porter was against the script of this movie because it didn’t represent his life, but when he found out Cary Grant was going to play him, he changed his mind.
Cocktails with Cole will run from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the historic Roberts home at 108 W. Third St. Upscale cocktails and a cocktail buffet will be offered, along with live music by Dave Lowe & Friends. Cost is $39 per person, and reservations are required.
The festival moves from high-class to historical on Saturday, when Charles Troy will offer a free multimedia program from 9 to 10:30 a.m. called “Cole Porter and the Great Depression.” Troy uses art, music and film to give insight into the times of Porter. Troy returns at 2 p.m. with a second presentation called “A Cole Porter Musical Comedy Tour of Paris.” Both programs will be held at the Miami County Museum Annex.
For even more history, Y buses courtesy of Miami County Transit will leave from the museum for guided tours to the city’s Cole Porter sites, including his birthplace, the Old Fashioned Garden and his grave site. Tours start at 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and cost $10.
Live music will also be held inside the museum from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The featured musicians for the festival are Matt and Cynthia Gruel of Nostalgia Entertainment, who will perform a wide range of Porter’s music at 7 p.m. Saturday inside the Peru High School auditorium.
Mock said Matt Gruel is a Peru native who was the recipient of the Cole Porter Scholarship, which is given every year during the festival to a local student who is majoring in an entertainment-related field or the arts.
She said the couple performed last year at the festival as part of a variety show, but the two were such a big hit that they will be the sole performers at this year’s concert.
“Matt and Cynthia stole the show and they were just fantastic,” Mock said. “They only did three numbers last year, and now they’re able to put on their full Cole Porter repertoire.”
Tickets to the show cost $15 in advance and $20 at the door. During the concert, a special performance and art exhibit will feature Avery Josephine Jackson, the 2016 Cole Porter Scholarship winner. A reception will be held at intermission for Jackson.
For more Porter-themed entertainment, Ole Olsen Memorial Theater will perform a Cole Porter Collection musical revue on Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. at the Peru Depot. Tickets are $5 and are available by calling 765-472-3680.
The festival gets back to its high-class roots on Sunday with a champagne brunch from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. held at the Cole Porter Inn. On the menu is carved ham, gourmet breakfast boats, breakfast baguettes filled with scramble, baked eggs, fruits, salad, pastries, biscuits and champagne, mimosas, fuzzy navels and bloody marys. The brunch costs $55, and must be reserved in advance.
The festival wraps up downtown with an old-fashioned ice-cream social from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday beneath a tent on 5th Street. Free ice cream will be provided by Dukes Memorial Hospital, and more music will on hand courtesy of the Swampwater Stompers and Kokomo Men of Note. Children’s activities and games from Cole’s era will also be featured.
Vicki Draper, marketing and public relations coordinator for the festival, said this is the 26th year for the festival, and in that time it’s become a top-notch event that has drawn Porter fans from as far away as Scotland and Sweden.
She said although Porter didn’t visit Peru much after leaving, the city has embraced his legacy and his music.
Even after his death in 1964, his award-winning songs and tunes still play a prominent role in commercials, TV shows and movies. Draper said it’s pretty cool for a town like Peru to call him their own.
Mock said Peru is musical town that embraces the arts, and that can partially be traced back to Porter’s prominent role in the city’s history.
“It’s really incredible when you compare Peru to other small towns,” she said. “We have such a musical vein running through the city. When you have someone like Cole Porter come from your town, it’s an encouragement to people here to keep his music alive.”
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Source: Kokomo Tribune, https://bit.ly/2qXrI2I
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Information from: Kokomo Tribune, https://www.ktonline.com
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