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‘A love that would never die and music that would live forever’
De-Lovely is an original musical portrait of American composer Cole Porter, filled with his unforgettable songs. In the film, Porter is looking back on his life as if it was one of his spectacular stage shows, with the people and events of his life becoming the actors and action onstage.
In act one, Porter and Linda Lee meet in Paris, fall in love and marry with her knowledge of his being gay; on to Venice and New York, where parties, music, and their love lead him to compose professionally. Act two is set in New York and Hollywood, where success awaits, as do an increasing number of young men who take Porter's attention from Linda and leave her lonely and apart. Act three begins with a crippling accident that brings Linda back to Porter's side, their attentiveness to each other renewed in his pain and her illness.
Through elaborate production numbers and popular Porter hits (including Anything Goes, It's De-Lovely, In The Still Of The Night, Let’s Misbehave, Be A Clown, Night and Day) Porter's elegant, excessive past comes to light …
Starring Kevin Kline, Ashley Judd, Jonathan Pryce, Kevin McNally and featuring musical performances from Robbie Williams, Elvis Costello, Alanis Morissette, John Barrowman, Sheryl Crow, and Diana Krall. |
I auditioned and took part in a weeklong workshop led by the film’s choreographer Francesca Jaynes. The aim was to work the ideas of the ‘musical numbers’ with Kevin Kline – Begin The Beguine, Be A Clown, and Anything Goes.
Many months later I was invited to be a part of the ‘Be A Clown’ production number filmed on the back-lot at Ealing Studios. The preceding scene involved Cole Porter meeting with an MGM movie mogal at MGM Studios to discuss his work. In the flick of an eye, Porter bursts into song (‘Be A Clown’) and the various people in the vicinity start singing and dancing around him. I was a studio carpenter in brown overalls … and if you blink when you watch the film, you might just miss me! Unfortunately, due to my location on the set, I couldn’t have been further away from the camera! (In fact I was so far away from the camera, I could have boarded a tube train at Ealing Broadway Station!!)
Although my hard work cannot be seen on film, my four days on ‘De-Lovely’ were certainly enjoyable, and I particularly enjoyed the catering!
Before deciding on the title ‘De-Lovely’ the movie was known by the working titles ‘Just One Of Those Things’ and ‘Cole’.
Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd went on to receive Golden Globe Nominations for their performances in ‘De-Lovely’, and the soundtrack was Grammy Nominated.
The film was screened at various Film Festivals around the world, including; Cannes Film Festival in France, CineVegas International Festival in America, Sydney Festival in Australia, and the Copenhagen International Film Festival in Denmark.
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