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#TBT: The 20th Century Wit of Noel Coward

#TBT: The 20th Century Wit of Noel Coward

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With Glee's Chris Colfer readying to play Coward in a film shooting this summer, Throwback Thursday takes this opportunity to review the wit of the Master.

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We are terribly pleased to hear Chris Colfer will be portraying Noel Coward in a film shooting this summer. Coward was astoundingly productive and amazingly famous for most of the last century. His first play was written in 1917 and his songs enjoyed a big revival in the '60s and '70s. His plays Private Lives, Design for Living, and Blithe Spirit still enjoy rollicking productions and they were all made into films. His songs are the essence of wit and clever syncopation. And his life, though reasonably discreet, was led with style and panache.

In praise of Coward's versatility, Lord Mountbatten said, in a tribute on Coward's 70th birthday, "There are probably greater painters than Noel, greater novelists than Noel, greater librettists, greater composers of music, greater singers, greater dancers, greater comedians, greater tragedians, greater stage producers, greater film directors, greater cabaret artists, greater TV stars. If there are, they are 14 different people. Only one man combined all 14 different labels - the Master."

Chris Colfer has quite the silk dressing gown to fill.

Below, enjoy Coward's deadpan epigrams.

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Christopher Harrity

Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.
Christopher Harrity is the Manager of Online Production for Here Media, parent company to The Advocate and Out. He enjoys assembling online features on artists and photographers, and you can often find him poring over the mouldering archives of the magazines.