Before It Shakes Up Broadway, Dive Into the Delicious Drama of Fallen Angels

A little more than a century ago, a 24-year-old Noël Coward wrote a comedy about two married women getting drunk while waiting for an old flame to visit. The play—which features women toasting to pre-marital sexual dalliances—nearly caused a moral panic. Before Fallen Angels even premiered in 1925, nervous government officials in London considered banning the work. After opening night, critics fanned the flames, calling the show "disgusting, vile and obscene." On the final night of the run, an outraged patron stood up and denounced its “sordidness.” In the end, however, the scandal only increased the show’s FOMO factor. At the box office, it was a smash hit.

100 years after giving London quite the shock, Fallen Angels is bubbling back to Broadway. Golden Globe winner Rose Bryne and Tony winner Kelli O’Hara star as Jane Banbury and Julia Sterroll, respectively, two upper-class wives whose friendship is tested when their husbands leave town for the day. Before the Roundabout Theatre Company revival pops the cork on March 27 at the Todd Haimes Theatre, let’s raise a glass to the history behind Coward’s fizzy comedy.

The Scandal That Nearly Stayed Secret
When Coward wrote Fallen Angels in 1923, it quickly ended up in his “bottom drawer.” Two years later, after the success of one of his newer plays, The Vortex, producers raided Coward’s back catalog for a quick followup. The plot is deliciously intriguing: Best friends Jane and Julia receive postcards from Maurice—a Frenchman they both slept with before marriage. Maurice has announced an imminent visit, and with their husbands away for a weekend of golf, the friends prepare a welcome dinner for their former lover. The goal? To prove how happily married they are amid “charming domestic surroundings.” When Maurice doesn’t show in a timely fashion, they start drinking the booze meant for their guest. Giggling ensues, which leads to nervous apprehension, which gives way to something more serious as the best friends begin questioning each other’s intentions.

Unnecessary Frankness of Expression Among Women
For most of Coward's life, all plays had to be cleared by the Lord Chamberlain, who could censor works deemed unsuitable for the public. In the months ahead of its premiere, the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Cromer, took exception to Fallen Angels' open discussion among women of pre-marital sex—or what Cromer called "quite unnecessary frankness of expression among women." Even more scandalous was the possibility of two ladies getting drunk onstage. Though initially reluctant to approve the script, with a few edits, Cromer ultimately allowed it to pass because of its “light and unreal and humorous” treatment of the subject matter.

A Frightfully Depraved Mind
Where the Lord Chamberlain saw mostly harmless banter, critics were not so forgiving. Reviews the morning after opening night featured words like “nauseating” and “degenerate.” The Public Morality Council campaigned to revoke Fallen Angels' license, calling it "a revolting sex-play." Coward responded in the Evening Standard with his usual wit, joking with a reporter, “I really have a frightfully depraved mind.”

The playwright would later address the "scandalous" subject matter in a more serious manner, adding a preface to the play which defends the free discussion of sex in theater. In it, he argues that “rocks are infinitely more dangerous when they are submerged,” and that “sex being the most important factor of human nature is naturally, and always will be, the fundamental root of good drama.”

Four Days Out, Enter a New Leading Lady
Despite the script receiving the government’s ultimate approval, the original production hit another hurdle just four days before opening. Edna Best was cast as Jane, with Margaret Bannerman set to play Julia. But within days of their first audience, Bannerman bowed out due to mental health issues. In a last-minute twist, Coward and his team asked an American actress to step in.

The “ebullient and beautiful” Tallulah Bankhead had recently moved to London. With an established fan base among both socialites and those of more modest means, she quickly became the obvious replacement. Despite joining the cast late, Bankhead was said to be “word perfect” within two days, and on opening night critics declared that she gave a “magnetic” performance. With Bankhead now on the marquee, and scandalous reviews for the play itself, the box office’s telephone rang off the hook for months.

Life on Broadway and Beyond
The show’s Broadway premiere in 1927, with Fay Bainter as Julia and Estelle Winwood as Jane, was notably less successful; it only ran for 36 performances. But Coward hardly gave up on his American audience. In the 1956 Broadway revival starring Nancy Walker as Julia (now with the surname Starbuck), he revised the script, expanding the role of the maid Jasmine Saunders.

Over the decades, Coward was proud of some productions and famously disappointed in others. He called the 1949 West End revival starring Hermione Gingold as Jane and Hermione Baddeley as Julia “vulgar.” But with each new mounting, the playwright gradually accepted that Fallen Angels had become a vehicle for leading ladies to do more or less as they pleased.

A Golden Pair
With the show sinking or swimming based on the talent of its leads, Broadway audiences will surely be in very good hands for the 2026 revival. Tackling the role of Jane Banbury is Rose Byrne, fresh off her Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You. The Australian star told Deadline in January that Fallen Angels is “razor sharp” and exactly the theatrical challenge she’s been waiting to tackle. Known for film roles including Bridesmaids, Spy and Marie Antoinette, she made her Broadway debut in the 2014 revival of You Can’t Take It With You, also directed by Scott Ellis.

Bryne’s sparring partner is Kelli O’Hara. After years of starring in Broadway musicals (earning her eight Tony nominations and a win for The King and I), she's changing things up and diving into the world of straight plays. This fall, she starred alongside Tom Hanks in his futuristic drama This World of Tomorrow at the Shed. Now, she’ll take on the role of Julia Sterroll, the sharp-tongued wife who gets to deliver some of Coward’s wittiest barbs.

The Frenchman They Can’t Forget
Joining the duo on stage will be actor and television host Mark Consuelos, who announced on Live with Kelly and Mark that he’d be making his Broadway debut as Maurice Duclos, the Frenchman at the center of all the craziness. “I love getting on stage. It's been years since I've had a chance to do it because of travel, and living here in New York City, I'm pretty much anchored here now," he said. "I'm trapped! So, I thought it would be a good idea."

Rounding out the cast are Tracee Chimo (Bad Jews, Noises Off, The Heidi Chronicles) as the maid Saunders, three-time Tony nominee Christopher Fitzgerald (Waitress, Finian's Rainbow, Young Frankenstein, Wicked) as Willy Banbury and Obie Award winner Aasif Mandvi (Oklahoma!, Disgraced) as Fred Sterroll.

Fallen Angels begins performances on March 27, with opening night set for April 19. The production is set to run through June 7.

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