The works of Cole Porter are known for emitting a witty and urbane air.
That deft touch will be demonstrated at “Hot Cole: The Music of Cole Porter,” a melodic excursion set for 1 p.m. Wednesday at the Memorial Opera House in Valparaiso.
Part of the venue’s Lunchtime Cabaret series, the show is packed with vintage-pop standards that utilize the clever wordplay of the Indiana native.
Born and raised in Peru, Porter started racking up success in the 1920s, eventually gaining fame as one of the most illustrious composers for the Broadway stage.
“It’s such uplifting and happy music,” said Scot MacDonald, who is facilitating and directing the cabaret at the historic opera house.
“I have six very talented ladies that are going to be part of the cabaret,” said MacDonald, a Hobart resident.
With Hammond’s Jim Mollin at the piano, the midday show will roll out time-tested fare that evokes images of big-city fashion and cosmopolitan romance.
“It’s timeless,” said MacDonald, the venue’s interim business director. “You have songs like ‘Love for Sale’ and ‘Anything Goes.'”
During a show that will last less than an hour, a breezy program will be unleashed that showcases enduring musical craftsmanship dating back almost 100 years.
“Night and Day” is one of the acclaimed pieces on the menu.
“A lot of his earlier works are being featured,” MacDonald said.
That category includes “I Happen to Like New York.”
Contributing her footwork to the lunch-hour show will be Valparaiso’s Molly Vass, a choreographer for the Memorial Opera House.
“She’s going to be tap dancing throughout the show,” MacDonald said. “She choreographed ‘Anything Goes’ for us.”
MacDonald said “Anything Goes” was a full stage production at the Memorial Opera House in 2014.
“That whole musical is really a tap-dance musical,” Vass, 26, said.
She is scheduled to tap dance to the title song at the cabaret performance.
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“I know I’m tapping to about three different songs,” said Vass, an English teacher at Valparaiso High School.
Plying her craft to the sounds of Cole Porter represents a revered tradition.
“It’s definitely more of a classic Broadway style when it comes to tap dancing,” she said.
Aside from displaying her rhythmic feet, Vass will serve up vocals.
“I’ll be singing in some of the group numbers,” she said.
Additionally, she’ll serve up Porter’s “Friendship” as part of a duet.
“It’s also from the musical ‘Anything Goes,'” Vass related.
There is a comedic element to the song.
“I don’t have to be too serious on stage,” said Vass, a dance instructor at Mirror Image Dance Academy in Valparaiso.
Porter’s flamboyant “Be a Clown” is inextricably tied to his youth in Peru, which boasts a rich history as a home to circuses that used it for winter quarters — a practice dating back to the 19th century.
The songwriter and pianist had a particularly fruitful period in the 1930s with hit tunes such as “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “You’re the Top” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”
Besides music and dance, the cabaret will dispense some background information on the Broadway legend, so the audience can leave with a “little bit of information about who Cole Porter was,” according to MacDonald.
Bob Kostanczuk is a freelance writer.
‘Hot Cole: The Music of Cole Porter’
Where: Memorial Opera House, 104 E. Indiana Ave., Valparaiso
When: 1 p.m. Wednesday
Tickets: Adults $13; students, senior citizens and military $11; loge seats $20
Information: 219-548-9137; memorialoperahouse.com