Hutch

Hutch : Ruby In The Dust Theatre Company

Lady Mountbatten sues over claims of an affair with black singer ran all the headlines in July 1932. But the truth was even more outrageous ...

The inimitable music and lyrics of Cole Porter help to tell the tale of London's most popular cabaret attraction of the 1920s and 30s.

Leslie 'Hutch' Hutchinson was lucky to be in Paris at the time Cole Porter was starting to write his big hits, and Cole taught him how to sing and introduced him to the right people. The 'right people' (aka Cole's lovers) included Hollywood stars, princesses, debutantes and duchesses and, most famously, Edwina, wife of the Queen's cousin Lord Louis Mountbatten.

But this proved to be a liaison too far. Having skipped his native America, Hutch showed up in Paris and London when the so-called jazz age was in full swing. Cole Porter's song Let's Do It was one of his trademarks. The love triangle of Hutch, Porter and Mountbatten simultaneously propelled him into high society and yet ultimately destroyed him, emotionally, physically and musically.

A story of illicit love, racism and betrayal of the highest degree.