Noël and Gertie

This is a beautifully set and immaculately executed production that recreates, in a tribute to two of the best-loved performers of their time, all the glamour and elegance of the theatre in the early decades of last century.

Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence met as child stars in the early 20^th century, recalled in this production in a beautifully articulated performance of Don’t Put Your Daughter on the Stage Mrs Worthington.  Ambitious – and talented – at first they made their separate ways, but kept in constant contact, developing a friendship that would last through many years and many performances until Lawrence’s untimely death from cancer after her acclaimed performance in the premiere Broadway production of The King and I.

For Coward fans (and we are still many!) this is a nostalgic trip through the words and music of one of the most prolific of Britain’s maestros. Devised by Sheridan Morley, who complied biographies of both performers, and who is an aficionado of Coward’s work, the piece takes the audience through their many performances together, beginning and ending with the most piquant scenes from Private Lives, probably the most loved and most performed of Coward’s plays.

It is easy to see the practised and particular hand of director Nancye Hayes in the detail of this production. On an evocative art deco set, complete with the obligatory grand piano and a star blanket cyclorama, Hayes has directed her performers with minute attention to detail, catching all the piquancy of Coward’s words and music and the eloquence of performers of the period.

James Millar is a very English and very elegant Noël. His accent and phrasing as he opens with words from Coward’s obituary for Gertie, match the detail and mood of the set. He is smooth, without being slick, and he sings beautifully as well! As does Lucy Maunder as Gertie.

They move together from the clipped, eloquent phrasing of Private Lives into a gentle rendition of Moonlight Becomes You, and the audience is transported into the England and America of another time, a time of romance, weekends in the country, sea travel and sparkling opening nights. Though it touches on the history of the period – the Depression, World War Two – it is Noel and Gertie’s relationship and their work together that is the heart of this production.

Together Millar and Maunder recreate a performance partnership that lasted many years. It includes diverse extracts from Tonight at 8.30, including Shadow Play, delicious snippets from Red Peppers (Has Anybody Seen My Ship and Men About Town) and some very beautifully directed and subtly underperformed segments from Still Life, better known to most as Brief Encounters.

Blithe Spirit is not forgotten, and Maunder’s portrayal of Elvira is a flirty and touching, leading in this production to her return to America and her last Broadway show.

It is nice to hear on stage again the quirky recognisability of Coward’s musical phrasing and clever lyrics in such songs as Dance Little Lady, I Travel Alone, Sail Away and, of course I’ll See You Again.

This production will be loved by those who remember Coward and Lawrence and those, like me, who were introduced to them by devoted parents or grandparents, but it is also a beautiful production that recreates, very authentically, a period of musical and theatre history that should not be lost.

Carol Wimmer

TOUR DATES

NSW

Glen St Theatre 
- May 21 - June 1.

Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre, Penrith - 
June 5 – 8.

Riverside Theatres, Parramatta -
 June 11 – 15

The Concourse, Chatswood - 
June 26 - 29

The 'Q' - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre -
 July 2 – 7

Dubbo Regional Theatre -
 July 10.

Orange Civic Theatre - 
July 12 - 13

Laycock Street Theatre, Gosford- July 16 - 18

Manning Entertainment Centre, Taree - 
July 20

VIC

Frankston Arts Centre
 - June 20

Whitehorse Centre, Nunawadding -
 June 21 - 22

SA

The Space - Adelaide Festival Centre -
 July 23 - 27