Timeless Star Quality Ensures Noël Coward’s 1925 Comedy ‘Fallen Angels’ Soars on Broadway

Decades into their careers, Rose Byrne and Kelli O’Hara are throwbacks to a bygone era, before the advent of social media and certain advanced cosmetic procedures. Blessed with striking beauty and even more enviable talent, both women found initial success as ingénues, Ms. Byrne in film and television and Ms. O’Hara in musical theater, and both have managed to age not only gracefully but with a determination to pursue a range of interesting projects, keeping the focus on their work as some of their show business peers prove either unable or unwilling to do so. Their latest pursuit, a Broadway revival of “Fallen Angels,” brings the actresses together. Noël Coward’s comedy tracing two married women whose friendship is challenged by the sudden arrival of a mutual ex-lover was first produced on Broadway, briefly, in 1927, two years after its London premiere; another, slightly longer-lived production followed in 1956.To anyone familiar with “Angels,” its 70-year absence from our commercial theater capital should hardly come as a surprise. The premise of female characters blithely owning up to premarital sex and then contemplating adultery initially stirred a few feathers, but while Coward later tried to flesh out the play, it remains a rather flimsy affair, best recommended to diehards who can watch high-society types amuse themselves with cocktails and naughty banter without getting bored.Happily, veteran director Scott Ellis embraces the play’s slapstick elements to create a delightful vehicle for his leading ladies, and sustains a light touch that serves for all the players here, among them Mark Consuelos, a stage and screen actor best known these days for co-hosting a morning gab-fest—ABC’s “Live With Kelly & Mark,” with Kelly Ripa, his wife — who makes a charming appearance in the final scene.Kelli O’Hara, Mark Consuelos, and Rose Byrne in ‘Fallen Angels.’ Joan MarcusMs. O’ Hara is cast as Julia Sterroll, a seemingly elegant matron whom we meet as her wealthy husband, Fred, is about to leave for—what else?—a golfing excursion with his friend, Willy Banbury. Willy’s wife, Jane, played by Ms. Byrne, turns up shortly after Fred has departed, all piqued by the news that the former flame she shares with Julia, a Frenchman named Maurice Duclos, is on his way to London.Acting against their better judgment, as they generally do, Jane and Julia dress up to greet Maurice that evening, then proceed to get wildly drunk when he doesn’t show up. Ms. Byrne’s affinity for bawdy humor and her physical expressivity are well known to fans of her movies, from “Bridesmaids” to the darker “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” which earned her an Oscar nomination earlier this year; she expertly applies both as Jane, lubricated by martinis and champagne, grows increasingly crude and disheveled, almost barking out her baser thoughts.Ms. O’Hara, whose comedic gifts have been tapped in several roles but less widely showcased, meets her co-star with obvious relish on this turf. A phone cord, a set of stairs, and various sartorial accessories become props as Julia and Jane lose their inhibitions along with their sense of balance, literally, and both performers seem to have as grand a time reveling in the chaos as we do watching them.Tracee Chimo adds to the fun as Saunders, the Sterrolls’ dutiful but decidedly unreserved housekeeper, who keeps popping up and merrily mouthing off as if nothing were out of order. Aasif Mandvi and Christopher Fitzgerald make adroit buffoons as, respectively, Fred and Willy, who come off as far less savvy than their wives, even sober.Jeff Mahshie provides suitably handsome period costumes, and David Rockwell underlines the play’s era and its aura with the kind of scrumptious set design that gets cheers even before the dialogue begins. Of course, the main attraction of this “Fallen Angels” is its stars, neither of whom show any sign of dimming or falling.

Timeless Star Quality Ensures Noël Coward’s 1925 Comedy ‘Fallen Angels’ Soars on Broadway

Timeless Star Quality Ensures Noël Coward’s 1925 Comedy ‘Fallen Angels’ Soars on Broadway

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