Sail Away

It's normal to expect that a Noel Coward show will be good. And when the curtain rises above the main hall of the Cunard steam-ship Coronia, the audience is really ready to "sail away." But for five scenes the show is stranded somewhere between the 52nd Street pier and Staten Island, and one begins to wonder whether the good ship Coronia will make it to the high seas at all.

After the main hall, we go below to the cabin of Mrs. Verity Craig (Jean Fenn). She and her husband, it seems, are cruising through some pretty rough water. She's getting away from "it all"--and from him.

And then we visit John Van Mier's cabin, where we find that he too has had an unfortunate experience in love but that he, poor devil, has his mother along with him. Mrs. Craig is a little older than John Van Mier, but it would seem that the propellors are finally beginning to churn, all be it slowly and methodically.

And yet, luckily, it isn't quite that simple. In the fifth scene we're introduced to Nancy Foyle, who is travelling as companion-secretary to her poet-aunt. And Nancy, who beautifully sings "Where Shall I Find Him?", has her own problems. We begin to wonder whether its John and Mrs. Craig or John and Nancy. But it really doesn't seem all that important.

The sky begins to clear and the boat finally pushes into open water. Nancy, the passengers, and Barnaby Slade, a student at a Pennsylvania college, dance through a delightful scene on the sun deck. "Beatnik Love Affair" is what Mr. Coward calls it, and its the first glimpse of something really up to expectations. When Barnaby and Nancy are on stage, the show comes alive, and fortunately this becomes more frequent as we sail along.

The second act opens in Tangier, the Casbah. Ali and the Arabs run through an effective rendition of "The Customer's Always Right," sung earlier on board ship by the purser and stewards. The scene shifts to the ship's nursery and one of the lightest bits of comedy in the entire production.

Mimi, effectively played by the star Elaine Stritch, is surrounded by a bevy of brats. She's the social director, also in charge of civilizing the passenger's children. One delightful incorrigible, Alvin Lush, will not succumb. As they play and sing through an alphabet song, little Alvin changes the "s" in shore to "w," and, when the children form Mimi's name, old Alvin comes along and turns the "w's" upside down. A hot sketch that Alvin.

The cruise moves on to Athens, where Nancy and Barnaby, surrounded by the majesty of the Parthenon, sing and dance "When You Want Me." They are both excellent, but it's been a long trip and some people are beginning to get a little tired.

"Sail Away" will be in Boston for three weeks before opening in New York in September. I have a feeling that if I were to see it again in New York, I would be impressed by a thoroughly great show. But right now, it's only good.