by Mike Telin
When you think of contributors to the Great American Songbook, one of the first composers that comes to mind is Cole Porter. With some 800 to 1,000 songs to his name, Porter’s music found success on Broadway as well as in Hollywood films.
On Sunday, August 23 at 7:00 pm at Blossom Music Center, vocalist and pianist Tony DeSare will join The Cleveland Orchestra with his show “Cole Porter: Let’s Misbehave.” Under the direction of conductor Steven Reineke, the cast includes jazz vocalist and trombonist Aubrey Logan, and dancer, singer, and choreographer John Manzari. Tickets are available online.
“I’m so happy to be back for a third summer in a row,” DeSare said during a recent telephone conversation. “And Blossom itself — what a venue. It’s just such a fantastic place to perform. Whenever I’m there, I feel like such a rock star with the big video screens on the side, the big live room, and all the people. It’s always a great experience for me.”
DeSare said that when it came to creating a show that featured the music of a single composer, Cole Porter was his first choice because his songs are unique. “There’s just so much to pull from. Sometimes an entire evening of the music of a single composer can begin to sound the same. But Cole Porter wrote in so many different structures and types of songs that in some ways they’re more timeless than other Great American standards.”
He also wanted to be sure it would not be your grandma’s Cole Porter show. “I didn’t use any older arrangements. I arranged more than half the show myself and the other half are by top symphonic arrangers. So we have fresh charts and really leaned into making these songs sound current.”
DeSare customized many tunes to fit the talents of his collaborators. “John Manzari (left) tap dances and sings, Aubrey Logan plays trombone and sings, and I play piano and sing. So that provided me with a lot of possible permutations for variety’s sake.”
From the beginning he imagined the show would include a symphony orchestra. “I look at it as such a great privilege to be able to work with ensembles like The Cleveland Orchestra, which is one of the top symphonies in the entire world, and everybody on stage is a master of their own instrument. There’s so much you can do with the textures and colors of an orchestra to present the Cole Porter show in Technicolor.”
He added that with an orchestra you can achieve the softest sounds as well as the most dramatic sounds with brass and percussion. “So again, it allows for a lot of variety and it’s very fun for me to write for orchestra. I’m just thrilled that I get to do it. Like I said, it’s a privilege.”
When it came to constructing the show, DeSare began with a long list of songs that included the ones that everybody knows such as “Anything Goes,” “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
DeSare left plenty of room for some of Porter’s lesser known works. “We have songs like ‘I Concentrate on You,’ which is a beautiful standard. And there are songs from his many decades of writing. ‘Too Darn Hot,’ ‘It’s All Right With Me,’ You Do Something to Me,’ and ‘I Love Paris,’ are all there.”
Cole Porter: Let’s Misbehave also features two original tunes. “Aubrey Logan (left) is a talented songwriter, and I’ve been writing songs myself for a long time. So we each decided to include one song of ours that was influenced by Cole Porter — it kind of gives a 21st century view of the influence that he had on songwriters.”
As with all of his shows, DeSare will provide context for the music. “I try to give the audience some information at the beginning of the show without making it sound too academic, because there are bound to be people in the audience who just found themselves at the concert and have no idea who Cole Porter is. That will be pretty brief because we have a lot of music to get to. But Cole Porter was a very interesting character.”
Porter was born in 1891 in Peru, Indiana into a wealthy family. He entered Yale — where he wrote 300 songs — as an English major with a minor in music. He was a member of Scroll and Key and Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and wrote for the campus humor magazine The Yale Record. He was a member of the Whiffenpoofs and during his senior year, was elected president of the Yale Glee Club as well as its principal soloist.
“What I also find interesting is his name. I always wondered if that was some sort of stage name, because a coal porter is somebody that carries coal,” DeSare said. “The other weird thing is that his grandfather was rich because of the coal industry, but he’s not named after coal, Cole was his grandfather’s and mothers last name, but his father’s name, of course, was Porter. So I always found it interesting that he ended up with that name, which has no reference to the fact that his family’s money is from coal. I just find it funny.”
Has DeSare always been drawn to Porter’s music? “When I discovered The Great American Songbook, I was instantly drawn to the Cole Porter songs, even before I really knew what I liked about them. But when I started learning the music I fell in love with the way that he wrote. His chord changes are often unexpected from what you’d normally think would be in a standard jazz tune. And he doesn’t often use the normal 32-bar structure. And then the lyrics. He knew how to write the most beautiful, sophisticated lyrics about love, but he could also be totally satirical and funny and clever.”
He said that people should not have second thoughts about going to a Cole Porter show. “You don’t have to know who he is or the songs. It’s going to be energetic and exciting, the tap dancing is fantastic, and you’ll get to hear The Cleveland Orchestra. So just come and enjoy.”
In addition to Cole Porter: Let’s Misbehave, DeSare is also touring his show The Music of Billy Joel, and his self-titled album was recently released.
“I’ve been slowly putting that album together for a long time. I had released several of the singles, but now it’s nice to view it as a cohesive work — it’s the album I’ve wanted to make ever since I was 17 years old. I ended up getting into the jazz world, and then signed on with a jazz label and put out several albums with small groups. But the music I really fell in love with was Nelson Riddle, Frank Sinatra, and Ella Fitzgerald, who worked with big bands and orchestras.”
Although it took him some time, he was able to figure out how to make everything work financially so that he could keep creative control of the project.
“I knew that whatever I was spending the money on wasn’t a waste. I could mix it myself and just work on it till everything sounded right. I’ve written all the songs except for one old standard. So to me, this album most represents who I am as an artist, and who I’ve always wanted to be. This is what I love in music, and this is what I want to share. I think if I hadn’t done it, it would always feel like something I hadn’t crossed off my bucket list.”
Published on ClevelandClassical.com August 20, 2026
Click here for a printable copy of this article
