During rehearsal, Claudette Colbert flubbed a line, and apologized to Noël Coward, saying, "I'm sorry, Noel darling, I knew these lines backward yesterday." to which Coward replied, "That's the way you're SAYING them today."
The original Broadway production of "Blithe Spirit" written by Noël Coward opened at the Morosco Theater on November 5, 1941, ran for 657 performances and closed on June 5, 1943.
Clifton Webb, famous later for film roles in "Laura" and "The Razor's Edge" created the role of Charles on Broadway.
Originally broadcast live, and in color, but only a B&W kinescope survives.
Written in less than a week during May 1941, and which became one of the longest running comedies in the history of the British theatre, playing hundreds more performances than the more archetypal Coward comedies like Hay Fever and Private Lives. "Blithe Spirit" opened July 2, 1941 at the Piccadilly Theatre in London. The London original cast included the following: Cecil Parker as Charles Condomine, Fay Compton as his second wife Ruth, Kay Hammond as first wife and ghostly presence Elvira, Margaret Rutherford as a medium Madam Arcati, Martin Lewis as Charles' friend Doctor Bradman, Moya Nugent as his wife, Ruth Reeves as a maid. The English novelist and critic Graham Greene (b. 1904) had been less than kind to Noël in reviews; "Blithe Spirit" he had found a 'a weary exhibition of bad taste'. The Last performance of "Blithe Spirit" was at the Duchess Theatre, where it was in its 1,997th performance since opening in July 1941, to a gala packed house. In the fall of 1942, a six-month tour of the provinces titled "Play Parade", a repertoire of three of Noël's plays in which Noël starred: Present Laughter, This Happy Breed and Blithe Spirit. Noël Noël Coward's American play production of "Blithe Spirit" premiered on Broadway November 5, 1941 at the Morosco Theatre. The original production moving on June 5, 1942 to the Booth Theatre, closing on June 6, 1943 at the Booth Theatre, after 657 performances. The original cast included the following performers: Clifton Webb as Charles Condomine, Lemora Corbett as his first wife and ghostly presence Elvira, Peggy Wood as his second wife Ruth, Mildred Natwick as Madam Arcati, Lacqueline Clarke as Mrs. Bradman and Philip Tonge as Doctor Bradman. The production was produced and staged by John C.Wilson (1899-1961). John C. Wilson, known as Jack Wilson, an American theater manager and Noël's business partner in England, had been Noël's closest friend in the pre-war years, but since the outbreak of war Jack had settled permanently in the States and he and Noël were leading increasingly separate lives.