Kelli O’Hara and Rose Byrne Toast to Trouble in Fallen Angels Broadway Revival
Roundabout Theatre Company revives Noël Coward’s scandalous comedy with Mark Consuelos and Christopher Fitzgerald at the Todd Haimes Theatre
What to Know
- Noël Coward’s once-banned comedy Fallen Angels returns to Broadway in a Roundabout Theatre Company revival directed by Scott Ellis, beginning March 27 at the newly renovated Todd Haimes Theatre and running through June 7
- The star-studded cast includes Tony winner Kelli O’Hara, Oscar nominee Rose Byrne and Broadway newcomer Mark Consuelos
- Originally banned in 1926 for its “immoral” themes, Fallen Angels centers on two upper-class women revisiting shared romantic history—offering a champagne-fizzy, female-led comedy that still sparks conversation a century later
In 1926, a production of Noël Coward’s comedy of bad manners, Fallen Angels, was banned after just a few performances. A century later, Roundabout Interim Artistic Director Scott Ellis is bringing the French farce back to Broadway with a new cast and new context. Ahead of the show’s first performance on March 27, Broadway.com stopped by a press event to see what all the fizz is about.
For those looking for a bit more background on the play that caused a mild moral panic, Christopher Fitzgerald has you covered. The actor, performing the role of Willy Banbury, says: “This is—according to the reviews in the 1920s—the most depraved, disgusting, offensive, filthy piece of writing that's ever existed. That's what they said in the '20s. And guess what? It's still all those things and we love it.”
The play details a time in which two upper-class wives, played by Tony winner Kelli O’Hara and Academy Award nominee Rose Byrne, share a few toasts to their pre-marital dalliances—with the same man, who just may be en route from France to visit. The play is a rarity in that it is led by two women in a context that is not romantic. “I think if I looked back at every single show I've ever done…it's always been a heterosexual love story that I've played, except for one time," says O’Hara, who portrays Julia Sterroll. "But I feel like it's what I've been looking for and hungering for more and more."
Starring opposite O’Hara as Jane Banbury, Byrne compares the production to “a glass of champagne.” Speaking to her motivation for returning to Broadway with the woman-led play, she says, “The draw card for me is to spar with Kelly. She's so brilliant, she's so funny.” Byrne, nominated this year for an Academy Award for her performance in the 2-hour-long panic attack If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, calls Fallen Angels “an escape from reality,” a definite 180 from the aforementioned film.
Mark Consuelos, known best for his marital morning show Live with Kelly and Mark, will be making his Broadway debut as Maurice Duclos, the object of Jane and Julia’s affections. Consuelos says of Broadway compared to Live with Kelly and Mark, “It’s a completely different animal. The only thing that is kind of reminiscent is that I'm surrounded by really brilliant women in all parts of my day.”
This show will be the first to play the newly renovated Todd Haimes Theatre, named after the former Roundabout Artistic Director who passed away in 2023. Tracee Chimo, who plays Saunders, had a personal connection to Haimes. “Having this be the thing that opens the Todd Haimes Theatre and having this before him is very meaningful for me because he was a champion of mine for years,” she says. “We had the meet and greet yesterday and I was moved to tears because he would love this play—and he did love this play, but he would love this production.”
Fallen Angels runs from March 27 to June 7 at the Todd Haimes Theatre.
Get tickets to Fallen Angels!
