Champagne Dreams

If you're looking for a laugh, my lovelies, Mr. Coward has you covered and then some. A sparkling, new-to-us comedy about the one who got away from multiple Misses. Two married ladies of leisure are surprised by a note from their long-gone Parisian paramour (Yes, the same man. No, not at the same time). His impending arrival twirling them up in a whirlwind of what, what-if and why‑not? Riddles that have them reeling through time to their pre-husband era, swept along on a wave of nostalgia and champagne. Join them as they dream and dither; argue and bargain in a charming attempt to have it all. A farcical feast for every sense. Arrive, grab your favorite bubbly and enjoy the froth. Runs June 13 - October 3.

Featuring: Nate Burger, Phoebe González, Colleen Madden, Sam Luis Massaro, Ronald Román-Meléndez, Laura Rook

Synopsis

Noël Coward’s sparkling wit returns to the Hill for the first time since 2015. Jane and Julia are happily married to charming men when a message arrives from a former flame, sending their perfect lives into a tizzy. It appears a man with whom they’d each had a passionate tryst in the past is planning a visit, and they are both questioning whether they can – or want to – withstand his charms. As the husbands golf, the ladies plot and plan over copious glasses of champagne, with some “help” from a very worldly housekeeper, while awaiting the arrival of their former lover in this decadent and utterly entertaining comedy.

Please be advised this production uses a flashing lights effect. Herbal cigarettes will be used on stage during the performance. Contains adult themes. Contact the Box Office at 608-588-2361 for more information.

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Noël Coward wrote Fallen Angels in 1925, during a period of social transition in Britain—especially for women. The interwar years saw women gaining more rights, entering public life in new ways and beginning to question the boundaries of marriage, propriety and domestic expectation. While the surface of society remained polished, the foundations were shifting. Coward readily seized on this shift and through his plays, stories and songs, displayed a keen sense of what audiences wanted to hear, and an even keener sense for what they were afraid to say out loud.

Though best known for his sophisticated comedies of manners, Fallen Angels was his sole attempt at a genuine farce. He employs the usual mechanisms of mistaken identities and physical comedy, but what sets this play apart is his unmistakable voice: sharp, elegant and layered.

Our production leans into the aesthetic of 1930s Hollywood—those gorgeously lit musicals and screwball comedies that often used the artifice of glamour and style to reflect real tensions beneath the surface.

Why do this play in 2025? Well, it is the 125th anniversary of Coward’s birth and exactly 100 years since the play premiered! It seems an appropriate moment to celebrate his particular genius. And in an age when we are still reckoning with the performative demands placed on women, Fallen Angels feels startlingly relevant. Coward’s questions—about freedom, intimacy, class systems—are still in the room. Finally, audiences in 2025, more than ever, crave connection. Fallen Angels reminds us that the bonds between women— fraught, funny and fiercely loyal—are also worthy of celebration.

Here on the Hill, we raise a glass to glamour, to wit, to chaos. Enjoy the ride.

-Shannon Cochran, Director of Fallen Angels