Rose Byrne came off a stellar year in film in 2025 with roles in a Tribeca favorite, Tow, and a New York Film Festival masterpiece, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. She’s now the main attraction for Broadway’s winning new comedy, Noël Coward’s Fallen Angels, which has gotten out of previews and has officially opened on 42nd Street.
Boy oh boy, does this play run away with itself in such a hilarious way!
Byrne’s character, Jane Banbury, is kept offstage for a bit as the play sets in motion its hysterical initial plot developments. Kelli O’Hara is Julia Sterroll, who is perhaps unhappily married to Aasif Mandvi’s character, Fred.
Tracee Chimo brilliantly plays Saunders, the maid of the Sterroll household, who is a “jill of all trades.” Whenever a character talks about something going on, Saunders has something in her own life to relate it to. As she brings food and drink back and forth, she recites some of the wittiest dialogue in the play.
Jane’s husband, Willy (Christopher Fitzgerald), is a golfer and hangs out with Fred on occasion. As the men are away, Jane and Julia discuss an old flame, Maurice Duclos (Mark Consuelos), who is coming into town from France. Jane and Julia think about who Maurice really had stronger feelings for when both of them were seemingly involved with him.
Drinks are poured in large quantities, and cigarettes/cigars are smoked as the two women let loose as they wonder each time the phone or bell rings if it will be the handsome Maurice. Who does Maurice adore more between these two married women? More importantly, who will he choose to reconnect with first?
This play wisely keeps Maurice off-stage as the audience builds anticipation of Mark Consuelos’ grand entrance late in the proceedings.
Byrne is larger than life on stage. When her hair gets messy, Byrne plays it to the max as she looks wacky and wild as she delivers hilarious zingers in a terrifically offbeat and fun fashion.
O’Hara has a ball on stage, too, as she falls into the couch, and the phone gets all twisted up as the two women anxiously await that phone call from their beloved Maurice.
All bets are off when Maurice finally arrives, and the ending of the play is simply going to have audiences laughing and smiling from ear to ear.
Consuelos is the definite handsome ladies’ man and is, perhaps, the best casting choice of all the men in the play. Mandvi and Fitzgerald are complete opposites of Consuelos, and the play has plenty of humorous irony as this comedy of manners plays out so remarkably well. Consuelos steals the show with just a wee bit of stage time.
Mandvi and Fitzgerald ably keep their characters motivated to hold onto their ladies. Both actors are physically appropriate for these roles to add to the hilarity that the play ultimately presents to the audience.
Byrne is so funny here. This side of her was not evident in her aforementioned two recent movie roles. Byrne returns to her comic roots and adds elegance and sophistication to her character. O’Hara is no slouch, though, and matches Byrne scene for scene in terms of her high energy levels.
Fallen Angels is a brisk 90 minutes with no intermission. Watching these two main female characters glide across the stage, getting drunk and feeling jealous of one another, is nothing short of delightful.
Meanwhile, the costumes and set design are perfect for the way the two main women frolic across the stage. O’Hara’s Julia is the strait-laced one compared to the more eccentric Jane. Byrne’s Jane goes wildly looking for shoes at one point, and it’s clear that Jane has lost her marbles over the possibility of seeing Maurice again.
This cast assembled here is definitely on their toes, running around and having a grand ole, zany time. It’s clearly meant to be a fun play, and it’s impossible not to get immersed in the enjoyment of this old-school production, thanks in large part to the energy of the stars of the show.
In the end, Fallen Angels is about the sad way life plays out and how the past is still running deep in our veins, even after it had seemed to have long passed us by. Elegance and sophistication are what they are, but when it comes right down to it, sometimes a good old flame is all one needs to get some motivation back in one’s ordinary life. Fallen Angels is a true gem.
Fallen Angels is now playing on Broadway for a limited time only.
Follow us on X and on Instagram!
Like us on Facebook!
Thomas Duffy
Thomas Duffy is a Critics Choice member who has written film reviews for most of his life, starting at age 11 when he crafted his first full length movie critique on the film, "Roxanne," a Cyrano story featuring Steve Martin. As a result of that review and other movie obsessive writing, Thomas was awarded a creative writing award in sixth grade. Thomas is the proud author of nine books, including two highly acclaimed novels, "To Never Know" and "Social Work." Thomas can be found on X (formerly known as Twitter) or at a New York City movie theater watching the latest hit or independent movie. You can also run into him at Tribeca or at the New York Film Festival.