NOEL Coward’s musical Sail Away has not been revived in London since the original 1961 production – but now a the lost masterpiece by the celebrated humourist is back on stage, thanks to Hampstead-based director Ian Marshall Fisher.
Mr Fisher is behind the Lost Musicals company, who trawl the archives on the great 20th-century musical writers, searching for forgotten gems from the times when writers churned out shows for Broadway and the West End.
It can now be seen on the next two Sundays at the Lilian Baylis Theatre as part of the long-running Lost Musicals Series.
Sail Away enjoyed only one run starring Elaine Stritch, and the quintessential Coward offering – with songs such as Useful Useless Phrases and The Customer’s Always Right – is long overdue for revival.
Broadway actress Penny Fuller has come over from New York to play Mimi Paragon, the cruise hostess who falls for a younger man, Johnny Van Mier (Henry Luxembourg), and Stewart Permitt plays a madcap, Cowardesque writer.
* July 6 and 13, with performances at 4pm and 7.30pm. 0844 412 4300