Lost Cole Porter musical heading to New York stage

A one-night-only production of American composer Cole Porter’s variety show The Ambassador Revue is set to be staged in New York, 85 years after it debuted in Paris, France. The original 1929 show featured singers like Morton Downey and Evelyn Hoey performing a collection of Porter tunes, but the production closed after a few months and the tracks were never heard outside of Europe.
The songwriter went on to return to the U.S. and find fame with hits like I Get a Kick Out of You from Broadway musical Anything Goes, What Is This Thing Called Love from Wake Up and Dream, and one of his most popular releases, Night and Day, which was covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Eartha Kitt, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald.
The revue songs were long thought lost until musical theatre historian Ken Bloom and bandleader Vince Giordano discovered the missing compositions in an archive at Universal Music’s offices in Milan, Italy, and tunes like Boulevard Break and Blue Hours were heard in a revived production in Paris in 2012.
Now the pair is taking The Ambassador Revue to the Big Apple, where Porter fans will be treated to a collection of ‘lost’ tracks with singers, tap dancers and showgirls taking part in the one-off show at The Town Hall in New York on 27 June (14).
Former The Dukes of Hazzard star Tom Wopat will star, while Bloom will direct and Giordano, who arranged the show, will perform with his band the Nighthawks.