Following a subtle theme of inequities between the upper and lower classes in the early part of the 20th Century, Milwaukee Chamber Theater ended last season with Jeeves Takes a Bow by P.G. Wodehouse. In it, members of the hopelessly inept upper-class are saved from themselves by a highly intelligent, multi-talented and resilient butler named Jeeves. This year, the torch is passed from man to woman, as Jeeves is replaced by Saunders (Molly Rhode), a new maid who takes charge of the household in Noel Coward’s Fallen Angels. It’s the closing play for this season’s run. Like Jeeves, Saunders demonstrates that she is Jeeves’s distaff equal. In both plays, the audience has fun watching a member of the “lower class” make complete fools of their “superiors.” Saunders is like “Mary Poppins” with attitude. In her first appearance onstage, she makes an instant impression — not necessarily a positive one — with the home’s master, Fred (Rick Pendzich). He is nearly about to scold Saunders for her impertinence when she deflates the situation by giving him some expert advice about his golf game. He and his wife Julia (Kay Allmand) soon discover that Saunders has many other talents as well. To wit: she plays the piano beautifully, and has perfect pitch as she sings along to her piano music. Before the play is over, Saunders also demonstrates her ability to speak (and sing in) French, and to concoct a perfect hangover remedy. Noel Coward’s beautifully crafted script allows Saunders to do all this — and more — during a tantalizing two hours of nonstop hilarity. Coward, only in his 20s when he wrote this early gem, shows the buds of wry comedy that come to full flower in some of his later (and better) work, such as Private Lives and Present Laughter. Ostensibly, the play is supposed to revolve around two close friends, Julia and Jane (Beth Mulkerron). They are the “angels” of the show’s title, who might slip off their cloud if given an opportunity. Like Julia, Jane is married. In this case, her husband is the hapless Willy (Chase Stoeger). Both couples live at suitably posh addresses in London. After a key sequence in which Julia tries to convince her distracted husband about the difference between loving someone and being “in love” (meaning passion), she and Jane send their husbands off on a weekend golf outing. Once they men are out of earshot, both of the women admit to being bored with married life after their five-year marriages. Although they haven’t even reached the “seven-year itch,” they already are wondering if they will “fall” into the arms of another man. They wonder aloud if an affair might be the perfect antidote to their aforementioned boredom. This option arises with the imminent arrival of a French lover they both dated before they were married. (One can only imagine the uproar this notion caused in the mid-1920s, when this play premiered. Furthermore, they wonder whether they can resist his charms when he arrives on their doorstep at any moment.) In the rest of Act I, the women drive each other to giddy laughter over Maurice. Will he look the same as the last time they saw him seven years ago? Will they look the same to him? Which one is he likely to pick as his partner? The comedy builds more quickly in Act II. As it opens, the day is growing late and Maurice is still “awol.” The women — now all decked out in elegant gowns with feathers and jewels in their hair — try in vain to ignore their growling stomachs. Their solution is to have a drink . . . or five. Once they start hitting the bottle, their carefully groomed upbringing starts to unravel. One of the show’s highlights is a scene in which Saunders frequently shows up to serve them the next course at dinner. Horrified that she might overhear their randy conversation, the friends abruptly switch subjects when she appears. The result is a slew of hilariously inane non-sequiters for Saunders’s benefit. Director C. Michael Wright, who is also the company’s producing artistic director, does an excellent job of mining the humor in this drawing-room comedy. The play flows smoothly, almost effortlessly, as it must. However, Wright allows some of his actors tread perilously close to the comic edge. As Saunders, for instance, Molly Rhode goes to the extreme. Her exaggerated movements while playing the piano are humorous, but the play would be better served if she backed off a bit.
Rhodes, who has played this same role in past productions, is extremely familiar with Saunders’s antics. So one suspects that the play’s direction may be to blame. As the main characters Julia and Jane, Kay Allmand and Beth Mulkerron dig into their roles with relish. Allmand, the taller, thinner, and haughtier of the two, is a nice counterpoint to Mulkerron’s more reality-grounded Jane.
All the men’s parts are relatively thankless, as they exist mainly to support the women. Seasoned actors Rich Pendzich and Chase Stoeger deliver some comic moments in their brief appearances as the husbands. As the womanizing Maurice, Matt Koester channels the late, debonair film and stage star Maurice Chevalier. In an early scene, in which Rich Pendzich nostalgically refers to the Victorian era, one is struck by details in the exquisite set (by Maureen Chavez-Kruger). It incorporates elements of Victorian homes (with its high ceiling, intricate wallpaper and wall sconces that resemble gas lights). “Modern” (1920s-era) touches include the ornate dial telephone. The show’s costumes are drop-dead gorgeous (by Jason Orlenko). He fashions some beautiful finery for the ladies, which is most apparent in Jane’s smart day dress in the first act and Julia’s backless, cabernet-colored silk gown in the second act. All in all, Fallen Angels is as sumptuous to watch as it is to hear Noel Coward’s wry and witty dialogue. The Milwaukee Chamber Theater has outdone itself in presenting a play that may not be as light as a soufflé, but still provides a fulfilling evening of theatre. Jeeves would no doubt approve.
