out & about / in the press / 2001 -2005

John Barrowman loves to do it to Cole Porter. The hard evidence can be found on JOHN BARROWMAN SWINGS COLE PORTER, the native Scot singer-actor's new CD, on which he does his boyishly mellifluous thing with such Porter gems as JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS and DON'T FENCE ME IN. Moviegoers saw him this summer in DE-LOVELY, dueting romantically with Kevin Kline as Porter (Barrowman played a boyfriend of the married gay composer) in one of the few decent sequences in that costume-party biopic. What's more, Barrowman just finished a full-on matinee idol stint in director Trevor Nunn's acclaimed reworking of Porter's shipboard musical ANYTHING GOES at the Drury Lane Theatre in London.

Of his one-man Porter palooza, Barrowman - known to nighttime TV soap junkies as a comely hunk on the quickly defunct CENTRAL PARK WEST and TITANS - says, "I'm riding on the back, so to speak, of Cole Porter. When all of a sudden there seemed to be this Porter resurgence, I approached First Night Records and my agent, saying, 'Why don't we do a Cole Porter album?' A few months later I got the small role in DE-LOVELY, and now I'm even looking into doing a TV show , maybe called NIGHT AND DAY, looking at his nonpublic persona. It all kind of happened oddly, but gosh, it's great music to sing, and what a great guy to emulate."

For the openly gay Barrowman, who recently celebrated his 10th anniversary with his partner, to perform Porter's songs is to better understand the man. Notes Barrowman: "In the research I did for the album and movie, it thrilled me that he was writing his autobiography through his music. 'WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?' is a song of turmoil, questioning the nature of this love that he had for his wife and his male lovers. 'EASY TO LOVE' was actually written about a man, and the line 'So sweet to waken with/So nice to sit down to eggs and bacon with' is really risque if you're in the know, because it's about sleeping with someone, waking with them and all that. 'YOU'D BE SO NICE TO COME HOME TO' is all about wanting a perfect relationship he could never find. Listen to the lyrics on this album and you'll know the true man behind the lyrics."

And what will we know about the man singing the lyrics? He says, laughing, well speaking of myself as a performer, I always say that Betty Buckley, with whom I did SUNSET BOULELVARD in the West End, sings from the [privates], giving and committing 150% of herself. I like men who sing from the [privates]. I hope I've done that on the CD. Beyond that, I'd say I'm a little off-kilter. Friends say I'm a bit bizzare. Like everybody, I get a little depressed sometimes, but that's just my makeup."

About his spouse, Barrowman shares, "My partner is a well-respected architect. His name is Scott, but I don't want to give his last name, because he doesn't like the public thing...I am ambitious - not brutually so, but I want to have a career that has longevity and some dignity. When we were in the car driving toward the red carpet at Cannes for DE-LOVELY, Scott actually turned to me and said, 'You like this, don't you?' But I felt so unsafe and exposed at that moment. I never want to be famous."

Maybe because when someone is a famous looker like Barrowman, everything - from substantive things like being out to quirky little indiscretions - can become tabloid fodder. Says Barrowman, who may become exponentially more famous when he turns up as a star in the BBC's retooled version of the classic sci-fi series DOCTOR WHO: "Years back, I was notorious for mooning or flashing. People started trying to shoot photographs of my ass, and I'd find myself in weird situations, like being in the supermarket bending over to get something, and somebody would be trying to take a picture of my butt. That's cool. I've got a good life, a great partner. If I complained, I think it would be wrong. I'm really, really happy.