Inspiration

In 1965, actor Roderick Cooke approached Noel Coward with the idea for a revue of Coward's work. Roderick had played the part of "a slightly distraught diplomat" in Coward's most recent musical, The Girl Who Came to Supper, on Broadway. Noel replied, "Dear Roddy, What a lovely idea! Please send me a dummy programme and let's talk."

Productions


Oh, Coward! premiered Off-Broadway at the New Theatre on October 4, 1972. It played for 294 performances. The original cast included Barbara Cason and Jamie Ross alongside conceiver and director Roderick Cook.

A London production opened on June 5, 1975, at the Criterion Theatre, starring Cook, Ross and Geraldine McEwan, and ran until August 2, 1975.

  In 1986, Oh, Coward! opened on Broadway at the Helen Hayes Theater on November 17 after sixteen previews. Again, Roderick Cook was at the helm, this time joined by Catherine Cox and Patrick Quinn. Both Cook and Cox received Tony Award nominations for their performances. The show played 56 performances and closed on January 3, 1987.

Cultural Influence

• The Oh, Coward! original cast recording featuring the Off-Broadway cast was released on vinyl in 1972.

• Noel Coward was a fixture of the British theatre in the twentieth century, best known for his plays, Hay Fever, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter and Blithe Spirit. He composed hundreds of songs, in addition to well over a dozen musical theatre works.

Trivia

• Oh, Coward! was one of the last of his shows to be staged during Coward's life.
• Oh, Coward! began as several different revues. In 1968, Roderick premiered a Coward revue at the Vancouver International Film Festival, starring Dorothy Loudon. The show did not fare well, and Roderick premiered another version on May 14, 1970, at the Theatre in the Dell, Toronto, Canada. This incarnation of the revue was titled A Noel Coward Revue, or To Sir, With Love. Finally, two years later, the show opened Off-Broadway in its current format with the title, Oh, Coward!