One-Man Show Pays Tribute to Noel Coward

Don Snell’s one-man show, “A Private Spirit . . . The Music and Wit of Noel Coward,” doesn’t show ennui, it inspires it. Coward’s world-weariness and sophisticated flair are nowhere to be found.

This Tiffany Theater and Ebury Street Productions presentation buries the lyrics of Coward’s little ditties under the live band and smothers Coward’s urbane wit under Snell’s ho-hum stage presence.

Beginning the piece as a fan who has bought some of Coward’s possessions off EBay, Snell channels the songwriter, but he might have gotten the wrong network.

Dialogue coach Ted Hollis has done a smashing job with Snell, but accents and speech patterns are not enough to make a night entertaining.

John Iacovelli’s set design doesn’t quite place us anywhere. Is it a home? A hotel? A nightclub? And what decade?

It hardly matters because Snell’s piece is a musical revue. A dozen Coward songs are strung together by stage patter that outlines bits of Coward’s life, mostly focusing on the predicament of being gay and very closeted.

Robert Schrock, who deftly directed the successful “Naked Boys Singing!,” seems at a loss here.

This piece meanders, without a sweeping pace or dramatic tension, as unbalanced as the sound from both Snell’s mike (sometimes distorted or too loud for the small space) and the band under musical director Brian Driscoll.

Using Terry Dobson’s musical arrangements (with an additional arrangement by Driscoll), Snell does a decent job of singing, but he can’t sell the songs or the show.

*

* “A Private Spirit . . . A Celebration of the Music and Wit of Noel Coward,” Tiffany Theater, 8532 Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood. today-Friday, 8 p.m.; Saturday, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m.; Sunday, 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Thereafter, Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Jan. 21. $25-$32.50; New Year’s Eve shows, $60. (310) 854-3684. Running time: 1 hour, 20 minutes.