I went to see Hotel Porter, a musical revue showcasing the songs of Cole Porter, with my father, who could actually afford the tickets. The characters' lives played like a Hollywood movie—all passion and crisis—and the renditions of "You're the Top," "Anything Goes" and "C'est Magnifique" got my toes tapping and my heart racing. It was entertaining and exhausting and made me think, yeah, this is fun, but get real. Then I read the biographical notes on Cole Porter who was born to wealth and privilege, achieved great musical success and social notoriety, cloaked himself in the mystery of the French Foreign Legion, suffered a serious accident while horseback riding and died tragically. Cole Porter's life was a movie; it just never got on film.