Fallen Angels (Roundabout Theatre Company)

By Harry Forbes

Though not quite in the exalted league of Noël Coward classics like “Private Lives” and “Design for Living,” his 1925 comedy “Fallen Angels” still sparkles with the playwright’s signature wit. Roundabout Theatre Company has mounted a sumptuous revival, directed with style by Scott Ellis.

Kelli O'Hara and Rose Byrne — fresh off Byrne’s Oscar-nominated turn in “If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You” — star as Julia and Jane, the sophisticated friends originally played by Tallulah Bankhead and Edna Best.

Years earlier, both women had affairs with the same French Lothario, Maurice — and, daringly for its era, the play leaves little doubt that the relationships were far from platonic. When Maurice announces by post that he is coming to London to see them, the now-settled wives are thrown into romantic turmoil. As the anticipated reunion fails to materialize, Julia and Jane drink themselves into a deliciously comic stupor, unleashing volleys of brittle, bitchy repartee.

Meanwhile, their husbands — Fred (Aasif Mandvi) and Willy (Christopher Fitzgerald) — remain blissfully oblivious, off golfing while emotional chaos reigns at home. Hovering nearby is Julia’s overly precociouis maid Saunders, played with excellent comic timing by Tracee Chimo.

The cast is uniformly strong. O’Hara, so often cast as poised and proper heroines (with “Days of Wine and Roses” a notable exception), gets a welcome opportunity to flaunt her comic gifts. Byrne, meanwhile, is especially hilarious in the latter half of the brisk, intermissionless 90-minute adaptation. (The original play ran three acts.) Fitzgerald delivers his usual amusing work, while Mark Consuelos makes an appealing late entrance as the elusive French charmer.

David Rockwell’s lavish drawing-room set for Julia and Fred’s London home is plushly opulent, beautifully illuminated by Kenneth Posner. Jeff Mahshie contributes stylish period costumes that add greatly to the production’s visual appeal. John Gromada’s sound design is generally unobtrusive, though occasional audibility issues suggest that a touch more sound enhancement might not have gone amiss.

In the end, this revival of “Fallen Angels” may amount to decidedly lightweight entertainment, but enjoyably so all the same.

(Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 W 42nd St.; roundabouttheatre.org; through June 7)

Photo by Joan Marcus: (l.-r.) Kelli O’Hara, Mark Consuelos, and Rose Byrne

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