A commercial outgrowth of the little theater movement, summer stock theaters flourished for more than half a century, beginning in the 1920s when nearly all of those un-air-conditioned Broadway houses closed during the hot summer months and actors had little work. Out in the cooler countryside, disused barns and stables gradually were turned into rustic theaters where celebrated stars might glow amid the fireflies and vacationers. They would perform roles in different plays at one venue or, as was more often the case, they would star in a vehicle packaged to travel as a unit among a circuit of little theaters. Ideally, for economic purposes, the play, often a golden oldie, required relatively simple scenery, such as a drawing room, and a small company of actors in support of the leading artists. Most likely the piece itself would be of a lighter variety meant to merely amuse.
The bygone summer stock season customarily began after Memorial Day, but this year it started on Sunday when Roundabout Theatre Company opened its Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s vintage 1920s comedy Fallen Angels with Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara as his naughty ladies in question.
Composed as a three-act play but now rolling along in 100 minutes, Fallen Angels concerns Julia (O’Hara) and Jane (Byrne), besties from childhood and now well-to-do matrons living with their comfy husbands in the same London apartment building. Scenic designer David Rockwell raises a silvery curtain upon a grand Art Deco drawing room done up in pink and ivory, glinting with touches of chrome, where Julia and her upstairs neighbor Jane soon find themselves in a delicious frenzy.
[Read Melissa Rose Bernardo’s ★★★★☆ review here.]
Before their marriages, it seems that Julia and Jane at separate times enjoyed “soul-shattering” affairs with the same charming Frenchman, Maurice. Nine years since they last heard from him, Maurice announces a surprise visit to London on this very weekend when their husbands have safely gone away on a golfing excursion. Titillated by their fond remembrance of past romance, Julia and Jane daringly decide to deck themselves out in their finest, order a swank dinner with champagne, and see what happens whenever Maurice arrives. And thus, the dinner sequence, the comical centerpiece that made Fallen Angels a notorious London smash in 1925 when nice ladies didn’t get drunk waiting for an ex-lover to show up. For that’s what happens to Julia and Jane.
Times and morals have changed since then. Premarital affairs are scarcely shocking today, while some viewers may find drunken behavior nothing to laugh about. Although this lightweight comedy is not among his best works such as Hay Fever or Private Lives, Coward humorously registers these two best friends’ changes in mood under the influence of alcohol that sees them transition from giddiness through a crying gag into chaos and finally flare up as a jealous confrontation. Coward’s skillful writing gives the actors license to be outrageously comical here, and both O’Hara and Bryne tickle up plenty of amusement. Waving a vast feathered fan, a big dinner napkin tucked into the decolletage of her green satin evening frock, Byrne woozily weaves around the room while O’Hara, genteel in lavender, displays increasing motor difficulties with cutlery and cigarette holders. Sporadically funny in this scene, it is likely the co-stars will shine brighter with the experience of future performances when they’re not playing things quite as carefully as presently.
Director Scott Ellis tends to rush the pace of the comedy, when taking a bit more leisure about it might make Coward’s already clipped dialogue easier to appreciate. His staging takes surprisingly little advantage of the expansive set and its deluxe furnishings. The program notes that Coward revised the play in 1958 following its revival on Broadway, although this intermission-free version appears to bear other fingerprints as well.
No matter, the play works well enough as a diversion from yesteryear, particularly as helped along by an able supporting company. Aasif Mandi and Christopher Fitzgerald offer jolly company as the mostly absent husbands, while a cheerful Tracee Chimo briskly trundles through as Saunders, the know-it-all maid of varied experience. Preceded by his gleaming smile, Mark Consuelos at last arrives as Maurice and quite the seasoned catnip he proves to be. Oddly, the most striking costume Jeff Mahshie designed for the show was not worn by either of the leading ladies. It was instead those droll golfing togs Fitzgerald sported: A pale brown knickerbockers suit with stockings of bright raspberry color picked up again in his vest and tam o shanter cap.
Despite the grandeur of its setting, Fallen Angels registers as rather a bijou production for the 740-seat Todd Haimes Theatre, but let’s simply pretend that already it is summer and all anybody wants is something light.
Fallen Angels opened April 19, 2026, at the Todd Haimes Theatre and runs through June 7. Tickets and information: roundabouttheatre.org
