WHAT’S ON? Is your production or event shown here...?If you want an item to be included here or on our website then please send details to: The Noël Coward Society, 29, Waldemar Avenue, Hellesdon, Norwich, NR6 6TB or email: whatson@noelcoward.net Tel: +44 (0)1603 486188 Fax: +44 (0)1603 400683Professional companies are shown in blue * denotes Premiere, TBC = To be confirmed

Page 12

and numerous appearances in his playsmake her an important name in theCoward story. With warmth and greatcharm, she paid a loving tribute to theMaster on his birthday. Following the ceremony, everyone madetheir way to a nearby restaurant, RosieO'Grady's, where a luncheon was held inthe appropriately named Broadway

Room.The warmth of the holiday season wasapparent as guests were greeted byfestive trimmings and inviting warm fire-places in this cozy oak panelled room.Coward music was playing softly in thebackground. A delicous meal wasserved by a very friendly staff. An amus-ing grace note was an unplanned coinci-dence ... the jovial bartender was namedNoel. Society member, Steve Ross verykindly gave to all members and guestsalike, a tape recording he had done of aCoward short story, "Stop Me If You'veHeard It." After the meal an enthusias-

tic responsegreeted ashowing ofCharlesCastle's1974 docu-mentary,"This Is NoelCoward." This lovelyoccasiontopped off ayear ofimportantnew growthfor the Societyin the United States. It was a wonderulway for members to get to know eachother. As the year ends, we want tothank allmembersfor theirinterestand sup-port. Asthe newyear starts,we lookforward tofutureevents andwelcomingmore newmembers to ourgrowing Society.

In what was in essence an encore for a very successful year for the Society, we remembered TheMaster in style - 30 years after he left us at Firefly - with an opportunity to celebrate the continuingsuccess of his work, remember his birth and release some of the most interesting volumes from the oldLondon Office of the Coward Estate at our Annual Luncheon and Auction at The Savoy. On bothsides of the Atlantic flowers were laid on the statues of Noel Coward crafted by Angela Connors forthe 1999 Centenary year for the Americas and the UK. This year saw strong growth in the numbers ofUS members thanks to the dedication of Ken Starrett who between his usual round of off and onBroadway theatre visits managed attendance at numerous Coward events organised by ElizabethSharland, Barry Day and many others. Ken, always impeccably dressed never misses an opportunity topromote the Society. Like some literary 007 he is always ready to pull out a membership form, con-cealed where his vest holster should be, and introduce himself to everyone he meets with those immor-tal words, “Did you know there is a Noel Coward Society?” The US laying of flowers ceremony on7th December at the Gershwin Theatre and the luncheon that followed proved to be a great success. InLondon a week later Ken arrived for the celebrations (see Page 2) on the 13th. Gareth Pike reports thathe cracked a bottle of champagne on the 13th and laid flowers on the statue at Noel’s home at Firefly.

NOEL COWARD CELEBRATIONS IN NEW YORK

by Ken StarrettOn Saturday the 6th of December a bliz-zard dumped 14 inches of snow on NewYork City. This didnot bode well forthose wanting toattend the flower-lay-ing ceremony at NoelCoward's statue inthe GershwinTheatre's Hall ofFame. The next daythe snow stopped, thesun came out and theguests made their way through snowdrifts to this first major event for USSociety members. When all were assem-bled, Ken Starrett, after welcomingremarks,introducedBroadwaystarTammyGrimeswhoseclosefriendshipwith NoelCoward

‘HANDS ACROSS THE SEA’

Tammy Grimes

Members and Guests at the Gershwin Theatre’s Hall of Fame

Ken Starrett & Tammy Grimes

The Master at The Gershwin

In North AmericaBlithe Spirit: 3 to 5 Mar Crofton House School, Vancouver, BCMar to Apr Denver Center, Denver, CO26 to 30 Apr Mississauga, Ontario22 Apr to 1 May Windmill Theatre Players, High River, Alberta

Design For Living 5 to 13 Feb Amicus Productions Toronto, Ontario

Fallen Angels 18 to 31 Jan Bramalea Live Theatre, Brampton, Ontario

Present Laughter22 to 25 Apr Columbia Arts Center - Vancouver, WAVancouver On Stage 360-666-47682 to 26 Jun Raymond Burr Performing Arts Theatre, New Westminister, BC

Hay Fever24 Feb to 6 Mar Powerhouse Theatre, Vernon, BC

Private Lives4 to 21 Feb Tribal Productions Inc. Thornhill, OntarioMay Enid, Oklahoma's Gaslight Theatre - our website givesexact dates.http://www.geocities.com/Broadway/5890/main.htmMay 26th Forest Heights Collegiate Institute, Kitchener, ONJan to Feb Lyric Stage, Boston, Mass. Apr to May Irish Classical Theatre. Buffalo, NY

Still LifeFood for Thought Productions, National Arts Club, NYC (212) 362-2560 starring Lynn Redgrave - 12 March

A Song at Twilight24 March, 23 April, 13 May & 17 May Food for ThoughtProductions, National Arts Club, NYC (212) 362-2560

A Short Visit Only - The Songs of Noel CowardFebruary 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th at 8:00 p.m. February 8th and15th at 3:00 p.m. Geoff Stoner at the Singers Forum 49 West24th, NYC 212-366-0541 Please call for Reservations

In AustralasiaBlithe Spirit 21 Jan to 20 Mar Tropic Line Theatre Queensland, Australiasmall tour - Melbourne Theatre Co Victoria and then SydneyTheatre Co

In the United KingdomPresent Laughter16 to 19 June The Hampton Hill Playhouse, Hamp[ton Hill,Mddx.

Hay Fever12 to 17 Jan Nottingham Arts Theatre, Nottingham, 27 to 28 May St. Mark’s Church Hall, Reigate, Surrey31 Jan to 7 Feb @ 7.45 Sunday Teddington Theatre Club @Hampton Hill Playhouse, Teddington also 1st Feb @6.00pmMatinee 7th Feb @2.30 Box Office: 020 8979 9499 (from19th Jan) Tickets £6 & £8 2004 (TBC) West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Quarry30 Apr to 15 May Haymarket Theatre, Basingstoke 2004 West Yorkshire Playhouse, The Quarry

Blithe Spirit21 to 24 Apr Oswaldtwistle Players at Oswaldtwistle CivicTheatre, Union Rd, Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, England7.30pm £4.50 - Wednesday and £6.00 (£5.00 concessions) -Thursday, Friday, Saturday 01254 387851 07767 38343529 to 31 Jan Betchworth O & DS Village Hall, BewtchworthSurrey22 to 24 Apr Rhiwbina ATS Memorial Hall Rhiwbina Cardiff8 Jun to 4 Aug Ian Dickens Productions - Blackpool/Darlington /Swansea (TBC)11 to 21 Mar REC Theatre Company, Buxton Ian Dickens ProductionsBlackpool/Darlington/Swansea 8 Junto 21 Aug (tbc)

Private Lives 14 Apr to mid May Windsor 24 Jan to 7 Feb Eye Theatre, Suffolk 5 to 28 Feb Northcott Theatre, Exeter 6 Mar to 3 Apr Derby Playhouse July TBC Dublin GateIrish tour 18 to 22 May Quince Players, The Cordes Hall, Sunninghill,Ascot, Berkshire24 Jan to 7 Feb Eye Theatre, Suffolk6 Mar to 3 Apr Derby Playhouse19 Apr to 15 May Queens Theatre, Hornchurch

Relative Values 2 Apr to 11 Jul Hever Lakeside Theatre, Kent 11004 Wesley Players, High St. Methodist Church, Witney,Oxfordshire

The MarquiseCurrent to mid May Bill Kenwright Ltd UK Tour, opensTheatre Royal, Windsor

Star Quality 9 to 14 Feb The Talisman Theatre, Kenilworth, Warwickshire

The Astonished Heart and Still Life19 Apr to 15 May Everyman and Playhouse Theatres,Liverpool

If any of these listings are incorrect please contact us on:whatson@noelcoward.net oe ring +44 (0) 1603 486 188

Page 1: Hands AcrossThe SeaPage 2: NCS AuctionPage 3: BarbaraLongford writes ...Page 4: Hampton HillPlayhousePage 5: Past Perfect CDReviewPage 6: Sail Away 1961Page 9: Marcy Kahan’s‘When Harry Met Sally’ ,and Obituary for GeraldGutierrezPage 11: Masterly Piecesitems about or relating tothe Master...Page 12: WHAT’S ON?

Page 11Page 2

In London guests Eleanor Bron andMalcolm Sinclair paid homage to NoelCoward at the flower-laying ceremony atthe Theatre Royal Drury Lane. TheSociety held its Annual Luncheon at TheSavoy followed by an auction of booksfrom the London Office of the CowardEstate. The Society now holds getting onfor a thousand items from the office kind-ly donated to the Society by GrahamPayn. The day’s events were filmed forChannel 4 News and broadcast later at6.30pm. (see still of Eleanor Bron fromthe broadcast below). The results of the

auction can be seen here with a briefdescription of each lot and the final ham-mer price. Our thanks to all who tookpart on such a pleasant event.

Results of the NCS Auction 13th December 2004, The SavoyLot Nos. and Detail HP1 Look After Lulu. Heinemann 1959 First edition. (£20 - £30) 452 Suite in Three Keys. Heinemann 1966 First edition. (£18 - £35) 183 Nude with Violin. Doubleday 1958 First US edition. (£20 - £30) 454 Nude with Violin Samuel French 1956 (£15 -£25) 255 Waiting in the Wings. Heinemann First edition (£20 - £30) 246 Not Yet the Dodo and other verses. Heinemann 1967. (£20 - £30) 207 Not Yet the Dodo and other verses Doubleday 1968. (£15 - £25) 108 The Lyrics of Noël Coward. Heinemann 1965 . (£15 - £25) 359 The Noël Coward Song Book. Michael Joseph 1953 (£20 - £30) 11510 Bon Voyage and other stories Heinemann 1967 (£18 -£30) 1511 Bon Voyage and other stories Doubleday 1968. (£15 -£25) 1712 Pretty Polly and other stories.Doubleday 1965. ( £12 - £25) 1613 Pretty Polly Barlow and other stories Heinemann 1964 (£18 - £30) 1614 Pomp and Circumstance. Doubleday 1960 (£15 - £25) 1615 Star Quality. Heinemann 1951. First edition (£18 - £30) 2516 Seven Stories. Dolphin 1963 First US paperback (£15 - £25) 517 The Noël Coward Diaries. Weidenfeld&Nicolson 1982.(£12 - £20) 3018 The Noël Coward Diaries. Little Brown 1982 (£12 - £20) 1419 The Life of Noël Coward, Cole Lesley. Cape 1976.( £10 - £18) 6020 The Art of Noël Coward, Robert Greacen.1953.(£15 - £18) 1821 South Sea Bubble. Heinemann 1956 (£20 - £35) 1522 Quadrille. Heinemann 1952 First edition Mint (£25 - £35) 2023 To Step Aside. Heinemann 1939 (£80 - £130) 5024 Spangled Unicorn Hutchinson Undated (£60 - £80 ) w/d25 Terribly Intimate Portraits Boni and Liversedge1922.(£150 - £250) 11026 I’ll Leave It To You. Samuel French 1920.(£100 - £160) 11027 Easy Virtue Harper .and Brothers 1926. (£125 - £200) 25028 Relative Values. Heinemann 1952 (£18 - £30) 2029 Home Chat. Martin Secker 1927. (£120 - £200) w/d30 This Happy Breed. Heinemann 1943 (£60 - £95) 2031 The Vortex. Harpers Modern Plays. 1924 First US (£100 - £160) 17032 The Vortex. Ernest Benn 1924 First edition (£100 - £180) 25033 The Vortex. Ernest Benn 1924 First edition.Inscribed (£100 - £180) 16034 The Vortex. Ernest Benn 1924 First edition (£100 - £180) 22035 Point Valaine. Heinemann 1935 First edition (£20 - £30) 2536 The Rat Trap. Ernest Benn 1924 (£125 - £200) 12537 Operette. Heinemann. 1938 First edition (£65 - £100) 5538 Post-Mortem. Heinemann. 1931 2nd impression.(£100 - £180) 9039 The Queen Was in the Parlour.Ernest Benn 1926 ( £120 - £200) 12040 Post-Mortem. Heinemann 1931 First edition (£15 - £25) 3041 The Marquise Ernest Benn 1927 First edition.(£125 - £200) 9542 Play Parade. Volume One Heinemann. Reprint 1961. (£25 - £40) 3043 Play Parade. Heinemann volumes 1-6 (£40 - £80) 9044 Play Parade. Doubleday 1948 (£10 - £18) 1045 Second Play Parade Heinemann 1939 First edition .(£25 - £60) 2446 Play Parade. Doubleday 1933 First edition. (£10 - £20) 2547 Play Parade. Heinemann Vol I - 6 ( £40 - £80) 13048 Bitter Sweet. Chappell 1929 Vocal score. (£75 - £120) 6049 A Withered Nosegay Christophers 1922 First edition (£35) 1550 Pacific 1860 Chappell 1947 Vocal score. (£35 - £80) 5051 The Plays of Noël Coward - 1st series Doubleday 1928 (£12 - £20) 1052 Lady Windermere’s Fan. Pan 1952 ( £120 - £200) 10053 Chelsea Buns by “Hernia Whittlebot”. (£200 - £300) Purchased 10054 Poems by Hernia Whittlebot .(£400 - £600) w/d55 Poems by Hernia Whittlebot (£400 - £600) w/dTOTAL £3,148KEY: HP = Hammer Price.,w/d = Lot was withdrawn at the sale. Purchased = Item purchased later at the sale. Amounts in brackets = estimate of range of values.

Malcolm Sinclair and Eleanor Bron speaking at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Masterly Pieces .... items about or relating to the Master...

Coward Portrait makes“Not The Turner Prize”competitionThe Daily Mail (weekend section) of 31May 2003 published details and illustra-tions of paintings in the Not The TurnerPrize competition. This Noel Cowardportrait was one of the sahortlistedexhibits that was hung in the MallGalleries in June last year.

NCS Member Terence Trimmer has senta variety of items over the years connec-cted by his, and our, love of all thingsCoward. This latest collection receivedlast year is a potpourri of Masterlyitems.

Tonight At 8.30This poster is reproduced from TheFairbanks Album published in the USA(1975) by Little Brown and Co.Copyright by Douglas Fairbanks Jnr. &Richard Schickel. It is a large formatbook, full of photos of DouglasFairbanks Jnr. and his family and also ofhis work in the entertainment business.The text mentions that Tonight At 8.30was an all-star (Hollywood) productionwhich raised $60,000 for British Relief.It appears to have been put on in 1940,the year before America came into thewar and no doubt Fairbanks had a handin organising the production. He wasvery sympathetic to the British causeand a great friend of Coward - What acast!

Blithe Spirit RestaurantThis is a smart looking spot in BalhamHigh Road, SW12. I happened to bepassing by and picked up this card.

Noel Coward Greetings CardTerence sent a copy of this card that hasbeen produced by The World’s GreatestMinds Ltd. (1999) (Ed. what a beguilingand unpretentious name! I have alsoreceived this card - as has YvonneThomas another member and have seenit on sale at The Forum, Norwich).

Hélène Catsiapis - The Theatre EdouardVIII in Paris (near the opera) will pro-duce Private Lives from Feb 6th 2004.L'Avant Seine will publish the Frenchtext. I have written two articles toaccompany it.The theatre has a matinee at 3.30 onSundays. That day the Eurostar has acheap day trip. It would be fun to have aday outing for members of the society,with lunch at the Cafe de la Paix thatNoel Coward liked so much. I couldhelp anyone who is interested. I will beseeing the production on the first day(Feb 6th).With all best wishes, Hélène email: helen.catsiapis@wanadoo.fr Tel:01 43 54 64 14

La pièceJamais sans toi ! Jamais plus... avec toiEliot (Pierre Arditi) et Amanda (ÉvelyneBouix) se sont aimés passionnément, sipassionnément qu’ils ont divorcé cinqans auparavant. Chacun a refait sa vie etvient de se remarier. Or, pendant leurlune de miel, lors de la première nuit,Eliot et Amanda découvrent qu’ilsséjournent dans le même hôtel.Paniqués, ils veulent fuir mais leurs nou-veaux partenaires ne comprennent pas.Tout peut donc arriver pendant cettedeuxième lune de miel...Le grand auteur Noël Coward a imaginéune comédie joyeuse et cynique sur uncouple d’amants incapables de vivreensemble ou séparés. Un classique duthéâtre anglais brillamment adapté parÉric-Emmanuel Schmitt.

London production, that was a case ofreally being rewarded."The rewards, he was indicating, comenot only after the piece has opened, butlong before. That he already was beingrewarded was evident from the excite-ment in his tone as he went on talkingabout his Sail Away people."The thing that's been so good about thisso far is that I have people with me whoare so enthusiastic about the material. JoeLayton, Oliver Smith, and Pete Matz,who is my musical director. They're allcontributing something to it.This always makes for professional hap-piness. I had the same kind of thing inmy original production of Bitter Sweet,in England. I knew from the word Go,from the very first rehearsal, everybodywas with it. Peggy Wood was wonder-ful; all the people who played it - all

made up a wonderful team. Doesn'talways work that way. Sometimes youcan get two or three people in the castwho upset the balance, and it goes butwhen it works the way Bitter Sweet did,it's heaven."There is no way of telling, of course,how Sail Away will fare. Yet, even if it isa failure, Coward will take it in his light-stepping, eternally jaunty stride. He hasother plans. He hopes to go out to the FarEast, which he has not visited since1936: "Just to have another look at it."En route - he will in all probability go byboat - he may have a go at his secondnovel, plans for which already havebegun to take shape in his mind. "Thereare several other things I'd like to do," hesaid. "I should like to do a movie; Ishould like to do another play for a limit-ed season in London and New York; Ihave a book of essays I'd like to write; Ihave the third volume of my autobiogra-phy that I've got to get on with some-time. . ." The first volume was calledPresent Indicative; the second FutureIndefinite; the third will be called PastPerfect.” That it has been all but perfect,by his lights, was indicated in a remarkhe made as I was leaving. The Coward oftoday is not substantially different fromthe Coward who danced in the aisles ofchurches when carried there by his moth-er when he was three. "After fifty yearsof it, I'm still stage-struck," he said.Impeccably so.

Marcy Kahanand

WhenHarry

Met SallyMarcy Kahan, NCSCommittee Member,writer and dramatistwhose credits include the GoldbergVariations that played off Broadway andher series of radio plays involving TheMaster, has written the adaptation of thescreen comedy classic When Harry MetSally which is about to start at theTheatre Royal. Haymarket on Wednesday11th Fberuary2004, Time: 20:00Price Range: £9.50 - £37.50

When Harry Met Sally is one of the best-loved romantic comedies of all time thatposes one of life's most interesting ques-tions - Will sex ruin a perfect friendship?Directed in 1989 by Rob Reiner, the nowlegendary film starred Meg Ryan andBilly Crystal. Nora Ephron’s Oscar-nominated screen-play has been adapted for the stage byMarcy Kahan.Directed by Loveday Ingram, the stageproduction will star Luke Perry, whomakes his London stage debut as Harry,and Alyson Hannigan as Sally.Do get along to see it...

OBITUARYGERALD GUTIERREZ

We note the passing of Coward Societymember, Gerald Gutierrez, 53 on 31December, 2003. Hestarted his career in1975 as an actorbefore becoming aprominent director.He was awarded theTony twice for hisBroadway productionsof The Heiress (1995)and A Delicate Balance (1996). He hada great passion for the works of Cowardand had plans for a full-scale productionof Cavalcade. He was to have directedCat on a Hot Tin Roof at the KennedyCenter in Washington. He will be sorelymissed by the theatre community.

Ken Starret

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THE NOEL COWARD SOCIETY IN 2004 by Barbara Longford

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, what a wonder ful town! I am honoured to have been asked to take over as Chairman of NCS and my first idea for the Society in 2004 is for a visit by UKMembers to the flower-laying at Noel Coward’s statue in the Gershwin Theatre, New York. As most of you know, we have avery active member in New York, Mr Ken Starrett, who is our Lead Representative for NCS in the US and Canada. Ken haskindly agreed to act as our host on the trip and, with his extensive knowledge of the city and of the places which Coward visited,this promises to be a most exciting time.At our first meeting of the year, the NCS Committee agreed that the flower-laying in New York this year will be on Sunday 5th

responsible for Publicity and PR and, asmentioned above, Ken Starrett is LeadRepresentative of NCS in the US andCanada.

We also have a number of most distin-guished people on the Committee, whoare able to give us invaluable advice,based on their vast experience of theatre-related issues and the work of Coward inparticular.

Our MembershipAt present we have approximately 200Members in the UK and 76 in the USA.We cannot spend our valuable funds onadvertising and so we feel that personalrecommendation is the best way tospread the word. By the time you readthis, John Knowles will have producedour new Membership Leaflets. At ourA.G.M. held at the Theatre Museum,Covent Garden on 13th December, 2003,It was agreed that each Member shouldbe sent a small batch of MembershipLeaflets in the hope that we wouldrecruit our friends and colleagues.Please help us to raise our profile.

Mr Ned Sherrin has kindly agreed tomention the Society on ‘Loose Ends’ onBBC Radio 4 on Saturday 31st January,when Steve Ross will be making a guestappearance, prior to our “Cocktails andLaughter….. evening. Some of you willbe seeing this newsletter for the firsttime during the Steve Ross evening. Forthose of you who are new to the Society,do join us in 2004 and help us try tomake the Noël Coward Society synony-mous with The Master’s own qualities.

Barbara Longford is always interested inhearing your views and news. She canbe contacted at: 7 Argyll Mansions,London, W14 8QG, UK or emailed at:barbara.longford@ntlworld.comGeneral queries and items for HomeChat should be sent to The Noel CowardSociety, 29, Waldemar Avenue,Hellesdon, Norwich, NR6 6TB, UK oremailed at johnknowles@noelcoward.net

December 2004 It is planned for aSunday as the matinees begin later onSundays, allowing more time in theGershwin Theatre. Ken Starrett willarrange access for us to the famousTheatre Hall of Fame. We are hopingthat many of our fellow Members fromthe US will be attending the luncheonwhich follows the ceremony, so that weshall have the opportunity of getting toknow one another. A documentary filmabout Coward, or some other highlight,will follow the luncheon.Mr Starrett will escort us on a walkingtour through the theatre district, pointingout theatres where Coward performed,restaurants he frequented and placeswhere he lived. He will also do his bestto secure tickets for performances ofplays on or off Broadway, which youmay want to see. Let’s hope that therewill be a Coward play on at the time,which could be included in the schedule. For people who have never been to NewYork City, a tour of important highlightscould be included, such as LincolnCenter, Washington Square inGreenwich Village and perhaps the his-toric Wall Street District and SouthStreet Seaport at the end of ManhattanIsland. Some Coward sites could beinterspersed along the way.As many of you will be aware, at theheight of the Christmas season NewYork is quite spectacular and unique,with highlights such as the world-famous giant tree at Rockefeller Centeror the Metropolitan Museum with itsNeapolitan Baroque Christmas tree.Should anyone have special requests,about shopping or some particular placethey might like to see, Ken Starrettwould do his best to help. The UK Members would fly to NewYork a few days before the ceremonyand return perhaps on the Monday afterit. Plans are at a very early stage, but

please note Sunday 5th December inyour diaries. The flower-laying ceremo-ny at Drury Lane will be held onSaturday 11th December and perhapssome of the Members from Americamight come over and join us for that too.

Geoffrey Skinner, Financial Adviser tothe Society, has kindly agreed to arrangethe American trip from the London end.Mrs. Yvonne Thomas, who made aspectacular visit to Firefly a while ago,has most kindly agreed to assistGeoffrey with the arrangements. Asyou may recall, Geoffrey organised ourwonderful day at the Ivy in March of lastyear. More details about the trip willfollow in later editions of Home Chat.

NCS Committee - 2004It may be worth repeating, and newMembers may not be aware, that NCS isrun by unpaid volunteers. Ken,Geoffrey, Yvonne mentioned above andall of us give up our time to try to ensurea successful Society of which Noelwould be proud. We do it out of love forThe Master.

John Knowles is continuing to be theEditor and Producer of Home Chat andthe Society’s website. John also hasoverall responsibility for Membership,managing the finances and holds all ofthe books and other itemised resourcesowned by NCS. As you may know ourPatron, Graham Payn, generously donat-ed these resources so that we could sellthem to raise funds for our Society.

A new Member of the Committee thisyear is Celia Collogne. Celia has mostkindly agreed to become ourMembership Secretary, a key roleindeed, because if the cheques do notroll in on time, then we shall have nofreedom to progress. Celia will managethe membership administration, includ-ing the Membership Database and willhave front line contact with Members onMembership and related issues.Celia can be contacted at:3, Somerville Road, Poulner, Ringwood,BH24 1XJ, UKTel: +44 (0)1425 478 760email: celia@cologne.fslife.co.uk Geoffrey Skinner is our financial advis-er, Stephen Greenman is continuing asAdministration Secretary, Marcy Kahanand Lawton Clark continue to be

The following extracts from an articlefrom NYTimes.com was spotted byrbrtrobb@aol.com. of the marvellouspar-ty Yahoo email group and includes anarray of memories of Gerald.When the Tony Award-winning theaterdirector Gerald Gutierrez died suddenlylate last month at the unripe age of 53,the stories about him immediately beganto flow. An actor's director, who under-stood exactly how to elicit emotionallymoving performances from his casts, hehad an obsession with detail that madeeach production tick like a perfectly cali-brated clock. His back-to-back Tonys forbest director in 1995 and 1996 - forrevivals of "The Heiress" and "ADelicate Balance," respectively - honoredwhat the actors, playwrights and othertheater people who worked with himalready knew very well. His style andflair may have seemed effortless, but hisresearch for every production - both clas-sic revivals and new plays - wasferocious. Mr. Gutierrez, who apparentlydied of respiratory failure from theeffects of the flu, was a cancer survivorwho came out of the experience "full oflife," as the actress Cherry Jones says.He was an impatient man with enormouspatience, a serious student of the theaterwith a wicked sense of humor, a privatesoul who took his Yorkshire terrierPhyllis to the 1995 Tony Awards ("It wasdeflective behavior," he said in a 1996interview with Alex Witchel in The NewYork Times, "if you look at the dog,you're not looking at the scars from thecancer surgery). Here are a few of thestories that Mr. Gutierrez's colleaguesand friends have been telling abouthim.

Jonathan MandellAndre Bishop Artistic Director, Lincoln Center Theater We were friends and colleagues for 25 years.When I first met him, I was struck by howintensely alive he seemed. Ruth Goetz, theco-author of "The Heiress," told her daughterthat Gerry seemed "like a very brilliant childwith a late-afternoon fever," and that's how Isaw him too. I also had never metanybody who drank dry gin martinis at lunch.One of his great gods was Noël Coward.Every Dec. 16, which is Noël Coward's birth-day, Gerry and I would meet at some fancybar and drink martinis and pretend to besmoking cigarettes and call everybody dar-ling, in honor of Noël Coward. Of all the directors I've worked with, he wasthe most open to listening to what I had tosay about the production. Usually, you spendhalf your life chasing directors down hall-ways who are trying to escape. But Gerrywould chase me, when he was ready: "Now Iwant to hear what you have to say."

Many others from the entertainment industrygave tributes in this article. For more fromKelvin Kline and Elaine Stritch see:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/18/arts/the-ater/18MAND.html?ex=1075458962&ei=1&en=580b3b73bb16c6c3t

Noel Coward as Henry Gow

Page 9Page 4

On Sunday 21st December, there was anappropriate finale to Ali Howarth’s timeon the Executive Committee of NCS, asthe representative of Alan BrodieRepresentation; she was invited tounveil the recently installed NoelCoward memorabilia at the HamptonHill Playhouse near Teddington. Thisstate-of-the-art theatre, now the home ofthe Teddington Theatre Club (TTC),founded in 1927, contains The CowardSuite, comprising an L-shaped clubroomwith floor to ceiling windows lookingout onto the High Street, and a CowardStudio Theatre, seating up to 60 people.Recently installed in the clubroom is oneof Noel’s dinner suits, his own game ofbackgammon and an attache case, alldonated to the theatre by The NoelCoward Foundation. The items are in aglass case, next to a large portrait ofNo¡l, by a local artist, George Melly.Ali and Barbara Longford had a superbafternoon. They weregreeted by EricYardley and othermembers of theTheatre Club, pliedwith mulled wine andmince pies, prior tothe special perform-ance of “ThirtyMinute Coward”, bymembers of the TTC.The cast – LiselleSchmulian, DorisWiksborrow, David R.Blackburn, TerenceM. Cardinal, Edward Jeoffroy, BarryRocard, Jack Smerdon and Eric Yardleyopened the occasion by singing “HappyBirthday, Dear Noel”. (see above left) Itwas certainly nearenough to his birthdayon the 16th and thewhole audience, 40 ofus in the foyer of thetheatre, joined in thesinging. It was reallyrather moving. Appropriately, the the-atre is very nearTeddington and thefirst reading was ofNoel’s poem “I cannotremember, I cannotremember…………..being allowed tostir the Christmas pudding on long ago,enchanted Christmas Eves. All this took

place in Teddington, Middlesex”. Thenseveral of the actors read extracts fromthe ‘Boy Actor’ poems. “London Pride”followed; the whole audience joined in

and everyone seemed to know the songvery well. Then “Jeunesse Doree”, theactors taking it in turns to recite a verse

and “Marvellous Party” followed, read,not sung, but with much distinction andflair. We then heard Noel’s description of hisplay “The Rat Trap”, his first solo effortwritten and produced when he was only18 years old. Apparently it was onlyever performed once, in his absence.Noel said he would have very muchliked to have seen it performed again.The players then gave us an extract ofthis long-forgotten play. It was quitefascinating. Fast, sharp dialogue, ofcourse, but also with a central dramatictension provided by the fact that thefemale lead had high career ambitions tobecome an established writer, whilst herwriter husband thought she might be bet-ter engaged sorting out the householdaffairs. Perennially modern.Interestingly, the TCC is consideringputting on the whole of ‘The Rat Trap’some time next year.An enchanting afternoon was completedby Eric Yardley’s recital of “I’ll see youagain……..” not a dry eye in the house!Quite a fitting farewell for Ali Howarth,who has now left Alan Brodie to travelthe world and settle in Australia with herfriend Rich.From all of us at the NCS, Ali, thankyou for your great contribution and wedo hope the last number of today’s showwill apply. Barbara Lonford

STOP PRESS ONNEW YORK VISIT

Latest on the NCS tripto NYC. Outline costsare as follows: Hoteland flight will be about£500 plus a cabaretevening with meal(drinks to be paid for bythe consumer) at around£40. The rest of the tripis currently beingplanned by Ken Starrett and GeoffreySkinner. If you are interested please letus know. The approximate dates for thetrip are 1st to 6th December. A depositwill be required, when viability isknown, of £120 per person. Please con-tact us for details or to express yourinterest. Write to Mr. Geoffrey Skinner,Samuel French Ltd., 52 Fitzroy Street,London, W1P 6JR.

Unveiling of Coward Memorabilia at Hampton Hill Playhouse - Teddington

dance, or both. Therefore, you have togo after those who have the quality youwant.There are even so many talented chil-dren. We have six in this. During theauditions, they seemed not to havea nerve in their bodies. They just cameon and, uh, belted it out. They're aboutseven years old. But you know, Iremember when I was a little boy actor,I never had a nerve. It was only later,when I became more mature, that Ibegan to be nervous.""Are you more nervous now?" I ven-tured to ask."Everybody's more nervous now," hesaid. "The older you get, the more nerv-ous you get. You know the hazards. Butit also gets better as you get older, forover the years you've developed theexperience - you know how to do it,which you didn't at first. In the begin-ning, your talent dictated to you. Later,you dictate to your talent."Now he obviously was on one of hisfavorite themes. "Talent is the importantthing. I've seen so many people whocould sing, dance - very nice voices,move very charmingly, but they have notalent. And this is something special.Then you get someone who dances infi-nitely less well, and whose voice islightweight, whose voice is infinitelyless rich and resonant - but there's a tal-ent for projection, which is a God-givengift. It's some way of communicating.You go to the theatre, to cabarets, andyou see any number of adequate per-formers, but it's only very rarely thatyou see someone who [he rapped hisknuckles three times on the table beforehim] knocks you for a loop.Gertrude Lawrence was not a greatdancer. All she had to do was walkacross the stage. There was drama. Youforgave the fact that she couldn't dofifty-nine turns to one second, and set-tled for her rather than somebodywho could.Nothing in the world excites me somuch as talent. Many years ago - 1927,I think - I wrote a play for one of ourgreatest actresses, Marie Tempest. Iwrote it over here in America, sent itback to England, and she liked it andwent into rehearsal with it. I got back toEngland the night after it had opened. Ihadn't been at one rehearsal. And I sat inthe box and watched her, and everythingI had written was exactly as I had visu-alized it. The Marquise. Later BillieBurke played it over here. But in the

Really a lovely voice - warm, lyrical andrich. Exactly right."Then, the young man opposite her,James Hurst, was stand-by for HarvePresnell in Molly Brown. Also a lovelyvoice. There was a little girl, PatriciaHarty, understudy for Pat Stanley inFiorello!, and when Pat Stanley left sheplayed the part. I went to see the showbefore I began thinking of the musical,and thought she was simply charming.And when I began doing the musical Iwent to see her again, and thought shehad great style - and so I engaged herThen my choreographer, Joe Layton whohad done the dances for the televisionshow The Gershwin Years, in whichthere were two sensational ballets toldme about a young man named GroverDale who danced marvelously. This boywas appearing in Paris in West SideStory; Joe Layton was very keen that Ishould have him, and so went to Parisand saw him and engaged him.So, I've got four comparatively newcom-ers - four new discoveries, I hope. Inaddition to which there are Stritch andAlice Pearce, and Margalo Gillmore Ithink I'm pretty well covered from thepoint of view of the performers."That Coward has not written a partfor himself into Sail Away does notmean that he is no longer interested inperforming. "I'm very interested inappearing, but for the past so manyyears, I have only done limited seasons."In Nude with Violin, he played here onlyfor three months, A longer run wouldkeep him from concentrating on his writ-ing. "I would begin to feel trapped," hesaid. "Not from boredom. Never that butI have certain things I want to express,and there would be no time for them.Playing a star part is a fulltime job." Heis not especially interested in returningto Las Vegas, where he scored a personaltriumph in 1956 at the Desert Inn. "Theywant me to go back, but I was so pleas-antly surprised that I made such a suc-cess there, and I really did enjoy thatmonth there, that I have a curious feel-ing that I don't want to try to top it. Itmight be an anticlimax, after the warmthI got there before, and the excitement ofbeing there for the first time. Anyway,literally, I haven't had very much time."For the moment, Coward returned tocasting Sail Away. "You know, there isan enormous amount of talent in thiscountry," he said. "We sat through audi-tions month after month, and it seemedto me that nearly everybody can sing, or

always has been and, I devoutly hope,always will be primarily a place ofentertainment."It was with this in mind, he told me, thathe wrote Sail Away. It is an American-style musical comedy, whatever that is,"planned entirely for entertainment." Ithas no "significant social message,"Coward told me. It concerns a ship thatleaves New York for a cruise of theMediterranean and return. There arethree stories in the book-two love sto-ries, and the problems of the hostess,who is in constant trouble with all thetourists."It was difficult to do because it's ratherlike a jigsaw puzzle," Coward said. "Itwas a very tricky job to keep the threestories balanced." He sighed. "The dan-ger of writing musicals, often, is that thebook gets in the way. I've tried to keepthe dialogue down to a minimum. That'sthe trick for a writer, which I am prima-rily. I have no time in this to developçharacters. I've got to get the dialogueright,down to the bone. This is a veryinteresting challenge, and I hope I've gotaway with it. We shall see."He spoke of the casting. "Elaine Stritchis in it," he said with satisfaction."A marvelous talent. I'd known Stritch'swork well. I'd seen her in Bus Stop, inGoldilocks; I'd known her a long time,admired her enormously. I think - I dohope - that in this show she will getwhat she deserves. Her part's very good,I think; she's got some very good numbers. I called her up in California andasked if she would be interested, and itall depended upon whether her televisionseries was going on again. Well, theycanceled it off. She said she'd let meknow. About ten days later she called meup and said she thought the coast wasclear. I told her the book wasn't writtenyet, and she would have to trust me. Shesaid, 'Have you ever written a playbefore?' I said, 'Well, one or two . . .'She said, 'Well, are you insane?' And Isaid, 'Not particularly.' She took it ontrust, and I hope her trust will be justi-fied."Coward paused, lighted another ciga-rette, and went on with his catalogue."Jean Fenn I'd had no personal knowl-edge of, except that I'd heard that shewas very beautiful to look at and had abeautiful voice. I called her, also on theCoast, and asked her to fly to New Yorkand sing to me. She came. I wasenchanted with her appearance and,above all, with her voice and her quality.

Barbara Longford and Ali Howarth with the‘Master’ at Hampton Hill Playhouse

Page 5Page 8

1932, where plangent oboe and trom-bone solos lead into a delightful andcharacteristic Gibbons syncopated pianosolo; from only seven years later butshowing an astonishing development indance-band styles there is the tightly-orchestrated ‘Zigeuner’ of the ArtieShaw orchestra - a very good display ofthe inherent moodiness of the songwhich comes over despite a rock-steadyrhythm; and a third delightful new dis-covery is another 1939 recording, ofStephane Grapelli and Django Reinhardtspiffing it up with the Quintet of the HotClub of France in ‘The YoungerGeneration’. Another instrumentaldelight is the rhythm pianist Raie DaCosta’s 1928 rendition of ‘Teach Me ToDance Like Grandma’.Of the solo artists, Judy Garland’s ‘PoorLittle Rich Girl’ (1942) and FrankSinatra’s ‘I’ll Follow My Secret Heart’(1944) are already quite well-known;much less known, and all worth getting

to know, are Dinah Shore’s ‘Mad AboutThe Boy’ (1947), Hildegarde’s ‘I’ll SeeYou Again’, ‘Dance, Little Lady’ and ‘ARoom With a View (1939), GretaKeller’s ‘Never Again’ (1939), andHutch’s ‘I Travel Alone’ (1934). Possibly some may find Hildegarde’sdelivery a bit sugary by today’s stan-dards, and Ray Sinatra’s orchestrationsreinforce this impression, but she alwaysapproaches everything with utter clarityand impeccable tuning. Both Hutch andGreta Keller chose to record remarkablepieces, the first an impeccable marriageof melody and lyric in one of Coward’smost self-revealing, autobiographicalsongs, the second a very theatrical pieceof light-music composition, whose versesection is one of the most haunting,moody and taut pieces of word-settingCoward ever produced. Dinah Shore’s‘Mad About The Boy’ is a remarkableforetaste of a much later and better-known rendition of this song by another

Dinah. It is certainly the “straighter”rendition of the two, and some wouldconsider it rather superior. In fact, if Ihad to choose one recording of this song,I’d probably go for this one: the voice isgood, and accurate, and she “bends” theword rhythms to give weight to impor-tant words in a way that seems absolute-ly natural.An added bonus is that, for once, here’sa Coward CD with really good listingdetails and intelligent sleeve notes clear-ly written by someone who knows theirCoward well. The CD is availablethrough normal suppliers such as HMV,but will probably have to be speciallyordered. You could try the producersdirect by telephoning 01869 325052 ore-mailing clarity@pastperfect.com. I donot know how long it will remain avail-able. Dominic Vlasto

Contents:Something To Do With Spring (1932)

Review of Past Per fect CD PPCD 78150by Dominic VlastoBack in the June 2003 issue of Home Chat, member Stephen Marshallflagged up the emergence of this CD. Hands up all those who noticedor did something about it? Well, you can still get hold of this CD, andit turns out to contain much more of interest to discerning Coward fansbeyond the Greta Keller recording of ‘Never Again’ which Stephen par-ticularly highlighted. It is one of the best and most intelligent collec-tions of Coward songs yet produced and well worth having.It is quite an eclectic collection, with interpretations of Coward’s songsin styles from early-thirties dance bands through solo artists includingGarland, Sinatra, Hildegarde and Hutch to Danny Kaye! The last ofthese is probably best ignored unless you are an ardent fan of DK, butit is worth tolerating on account of not only the range of vocal andinstrumental styles of the rest but also the fact that there are some veryrare recordings which have not to date been reissued since their originalrelease. These first-time re-releases include ‘Something To Do WithSpring’ recorded by Carroll Gibbons and the Savoy Hotel Orpheans in

Carroll Gibbons BandMrs Worthington (1935) Noel Coward + OrchestraMad About The Boy (1947) Dinah Shore + OrchestraTwentieth Century Blues (1931) Al Bowlly + Ray NobleOrchestraZigeuner (1939) Artie Shaw OrchestraI’ll See You Again (1939) Hildegarde + OrchestraLondon Pride (1941) Noel Coward + OrchestraThe Younger Generation (1939) Stephane Grappelli QuintetYou Were There (1935) Sam Browne + OrchestraPoor Little Rich Girl (1942) Judy Garland + OrchestraI’ll Follow My Secret Heart (1944) Frank Sinatra + OrchestraA Room With A View (1939) Hildegarde + OrchestraJosephine (1950) Noel Coward + Orchestra

Teach Me To Dance Like Grandma (1928) Raie Da Costa(Rhythm Pianist)Where Are The Songs We Sung? (1938) Denny Dennis + RoyFox OrchestraNever Again (1939) Greta Keller + OrchestraImagine The Duchess’s Feelings (1941) Noel Coward acc.Carroll GibbonsDance, Little Lady (1939) Hildegarde + OrchestraI Travel Alone (1934) Hutch (own accomp.)‘Words And Music’ Selection (1932) Ray Noble OrchestraMost Of Ev’ry Day (1934) Noel Coward acc. Carroll GibbonsSomeday I’ll Find You (1950) Gertrude Lawrence +OrchestraMad Dogs And Englishmen (1947) Danny Kaye + Orchestra

FUTURE REGIONAL EVENT - Dominic Vlasto is planning a regional NCS event in Norwich of his wonderful produc-tion The Master’s Voice first heard marking the Coward Centenary. This wonderful celebration of Coward in words and musicis planned for later this year or early next and includes the singing of Dominic, Geoffrey and Rachel Hodson (her version of IWent To A Marvellous Party is near-definitive - a bibulous slide with grace and clarity - eat your heart out Bea!) and others.

atre, with their protesting penchant forwriting of sordid matters, seemed defi-nitely old-fashioned to him. Theyreminded him of the experimental the-atre in Berlin of forty years before, hesaid. "It is natural enough that I shouldnot be deeply impressed with the ‘new’values for which our present-day youngauthors severally stand. To me these‘new’ values are as familiar as a maidand butler opening a first act with a briskexposition of the characters about toappear.”“In spite of much intellectual wishfulthinking," he wrote, "the theatre is now,

appeared. Then we came back to NewYork and held several more auditions.And got everything under way for theproduction. And that's the way it standsnow. It's finished. Obviously, there mayhave to be some changes when we getout of town, but perhaps there won't beso many. The major part of the work isnow done, except for the actual rehears-ing and the putting on the stage."When Coward said "it wasn't any good"about the first act he had written, hisvoice was so positive, I asked him how atalent such as his decided that. He light-ed a cigarette, but did not, hesitate fur-ther. "I'm very self-critical, and also I'msurrounded by friends who are very criti-cal," he said. "For instance, if anybodywho's near me sees a scene and says itdoesn't sound convincing, even if I thinkit does I have another look at it to seewhat's worrying them, and then veryoften - practically always - find they'reright. When one's doing something at themoment, of course, one doesn't know.It’s only a little bit later, when you turnon the critical appliance afterward, andlook back, and - but of course, I'm veryexperienced, and I've found that if I canget it to satisfy me at this point, then thenext step is to try it with an audience. Ican tell at the first performance whethera scene drags or whether it's too sharp,or too quick, or if a joke that I thoughtwas funny doesn't go over. And I give ittwo or three performances, and if itdoesn't work, I scrap it.I've generally found that things I special-ly like myself do come off all right, butthings I'm dubious about, I think, Well,we'll give it a trial.' Sometimes one issurprised. Sometimes the audience likessomething that you really don't thinkthey're going to like at all. And eventhen you've got to be careful, because itmight be the audience of that one partic-ular time. It's all very fascinating."What is perhaps more fascinating to theoutsider is how the glittering, ultraso-phisticated world in which Cowardalways has lived can be transmitted in amanner that can evoke a response fromthe vast multitudes who do not knowElsa, the Duke and other tenants of inter-national café society. Coward told methat he does not consider himself a manwho lives exclusively in a rarefiedatmosphere: "The phrase ‘rarefied life’ isnot quite accurate. I don't lead a rarefiedlife - I lead a very simple life. True, Iknow a lot of very prominent people, alot of very grand people, and a lot of

very ordinary people. Infact, I've always beeninterested in people of allsorts. Therefore, myacquaintanceship is notlimited to the eminent andthe sophisticated and thegrand. For instance, here Iam in New York, concen-trating almost entirely onconferences about theshow, and I see very fewpeople except quite ordi-nary ones, those who sur-round me, those con-cerned with the show.After all, I've appearedbefore the public since1910, and I've generallyfound that if I write some-thing that amuses me, thatI think is funny, or touch-ing, or moving, or whatev-er it is I think I've done,generally the public agree.The critics don't alwaysagree.Obviously, like all actors,performers and writers,I've had some nasty sur-prises, things that flopped,but I think the public willaccept what you givethem, provided you givethem something withintheir understanding. I hateobscurity. I try to be clear.Not always easy...”He paused, smoking indeep inhalations, reflect-ing, the blue-pupiled eyessquinting through thesmoke. "I lead a far sim-pler life than most peoplesuppose. I generally go tobed early, and I do mybest work early in themorning. In Jamaica I getup at about six - first light and worksteadily until lunch. In a warm climate Ican do that. In Switzerland, where it'sdark early in the morning, I get up later.Here in New York I awaken about sevenand can usually get two or three hours'work done before the business of the daybegins."Some months before our meeting,Coward had loosed a blast against thenew wave of playwrights and directorsand actors in a series of articles carriedin the British press. Among other things,he had said the new people of the the-

Coward was author and composer of ‘Conversation Piece’(1934), and starred in the London production with YvonnePrintemps. (Pierre Fresnay played the part in New York)

Page 7Page 6

Noël Coward danced into NewYork early this summer carry-ing the manuscript of SailAway, a new musical comedywith music, lyrics, book anddirection by Noël Coward,which after tryouts (threeweeks each in Boston andPhiladelphia) will open in NewYork on October 3, presentedby Bonard Productions, andstarring Elaine Stritch and JeanFenn. Coward's last New York appearance was in 1957,when he played in his own Nude with Violin. Since then,the sixty-one year old legend has been carrying on busi-ness as usual. He adapted Georges Feydeau's Occupe-toid'Amélie, renamed it Look After Lulu, and saw it staged inLondon with Vivien Leigh and Anthony Quayle, and inNew York with Tammy Grimes and Roddy McDowall. Itwas not well received here, which did not bother him inthe least. Waiting in the Wings, another play, this one withDame Sybil Thorndike, was produced in London in the1960-61 season. He also wrote his first original score fora ballet, London Morning, produced by Anton Dolin'sFestival Ballet in London; he wrote his first novel, Pompand Circumstance, which became a best seller.This has been the pattern of the lively, indefatigable, irre-pressible Coward since the time, at three, he was carriedto church by his mother and flabbergasted her and thecongregation by leaping out of her arms to dance withgay abandon in the aisles. That was around 1901; he wasborn in suburban London on December 16, 1899. Hemade his debut in 1907 at a public hall in Sutton, 'singinga song called "Cool" In 1911, after answering an adver-tisement and auditioning, he appeared in a pantomimecalled The Goldfish. Additional juvenile roles precededhis service in the Army. Gilbert Miller became interestedin him in 1918, and produced Coward's I'll Leave It toYou in 1920. That launched him, but it was not until 1925that he took American audiences into his slender, bonyhands and shook them until they thundered their applausefor The Vortex. That same year he had five plays runningsimultaneously in London. No other playwright ever hasequaled that record. No one could, for nobody writes asfast as Coward; even William Saroyan, when he was turn-ing out plays at the rate of two per month, could notmatch his speed. He wrote Hay Fever in three days.Blithe Spirit took longer: six days. Age must be slowinghim down. He spent two full weeks on the book for thenew Sail Away.If indeed he is no longer as swift as he once was, that factis not at once apparent to the visitor. His lithe step is aspurposefully, springy as ever, as he showed audiences inOur Man in Havana, one of two films he made since he

appeared in New York in Nude with Violin (the other wasSurprise Package). His hair is thin on top, but no thinnerthan it was twenty years ago. And there is still that air ofoverpowering sophistication, of neverending irony and wit,of champagne-bubbling joie (actually, Coward drinks spar-ingly) that always has characterized him and made him thedarling of the international set from the time in 1920 whenElsa Maxwell discovered him and said to him impulsively,"Come along with me to Paris." Neither had any money tospeak of, but Elsa knew people who did. She introducedCoward to them, and the Coward legend began. If F. ScottFitzgerald was the symbol of life in the United States duringthe twenties, or at least the high life, Coward was the samein England. More than that, he soon came to be known asthe symbol of the international set, no catalogue of whichwas complete without a mention of Noël, usually called"Dear Noël."He personified urbanity, good manners and, above all, rest-less creativeness. The last-named is concealed. behind amanner that is as imperturbable as Jeeves', if a trifle lessupper-class than the butler's. The first word that describeshim is "faultless." The second: "impeccable." Was it not thebeloved American journalist Richard Gehman who in 1958wrote that Noël Coward was one of the few living organismswho could be impeccable even when wearing bathingshorts? Indeed it was, and today I again report that NoëlCoward also is one of the few living humans who can beimpeccable even while wearing an old red-white-graystriped bathrobe and lounging slippers (red), monogrammed"NC." He was in this informal ensemble when I visited himduring the summer in his New York sublet.The living room was dominated by a concert grand piano,seemingly swelling, like that huge green apple bursting in aroom in René Magritte's surrealist painting. There werebooks and manuscripts everywhere, and a tight schedule forSail Away staring down sternly from the mantel. In came thelegend. Down sat the spare, slender frame. Up hunched thetanned knees, the dressing gown dropping away. Out camethe filter cigarettes. Soon smoke swirled around the vaguelyOriental face. On went the resonant, specific, gently emphat-ic voice.Coward always has allowed his ideas to remain in the backof his mind for a long time before he plunges into their exe-cution, which is why he can write with such inordinatespeed. Thus it was with Sail Away, he said."Two years ago I had the idea of doing a musical, and Iwrote the whole first act of one, and it wasn't any good. Iscrapped that. But bits of it still remained in my mind, andlast November I had a new idea. At Christmastime I wentdown to Jamaica and suddenly found I was in a musicalphase. Tunes kept on appearing every time I went to thepiano. I began to write a score, not complete, but ratherrough. I wrote several numbers, and then I began to think ofthe connecting stories to go with them. When I had doneabout twelve numbers, I came to New York in February andgave some auditions. At that moment I'd had the ideas of thecharacters I wanted to write. When I'd heard some peoplesing, and seen some people dance, and decided which toengage and which not to engage, I then went back toJamaica, this time with Oliver Smith, who came to stay withme, and he planned all the sets and I did the book, more orless simultaneously. Meanwhile some more numbers

This is an article about theAmerican production of Sail Away

from Theatre Arts magazine,dated September 1961 it is kindly

provided by Barry Day

Coward’s first American triumph - as playwright and actor - was ‘TheVortex’ At left: Lilian Braithwaite

The same ‘Tonight At 8.30’ included ‘Family Album’ which pairedCoward in memorable fashion with still another leading English star,

the late Gertrude Lawrence

In 1936 he was back in New York in his‘Tonight At 8.30.’ a series of short plays

including ‘Fumed Oak’