Noel Coward: The Complete Illustrated Lyrics
In America, Noel Coward's reputation rests onHay Fever,Private Lives,Design for Living, andBlithe Spirithilarious, brittle comedies that both undercut and endorse romance. In his native Britain, however, he is so highly regarded as a songwriter that Day, annotator-compiler of this splendidly mounted collection, declares him one of the five "great popular lyricists of the twentieth century," the others being Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Oscar Hammerstein (so much for Irving Berlin!). Coward's musical playsBitter Sweet,Cavalcade, andConversation Pieceare still staged in Britain, and many of his songs remain current. There is no denying Coward's wit; his lyrics reliably evoke smiles. But most Americans couldn't hum a Coward melody, which makes this book more of a general library specialty than collections of Hart's, Gershwin's, and other Americans' lyrics would be. Nevertheless, decked out with wonderful photos and artwork from Coward's many shows and threaded together by Day's amusing commentary, this big, handsome book would adorn any theater collection--and 1999 is the Coward centennial.Ray Olson