Though it was only the first of several full-scale stage works by Coward, Bitter-Sweet (1929) remained the composer's only true international success. The typically lighthearted story centers around an elderly noblewoman who must help her niece decide whether to marry for love or riches. One of the work's most popular numbers is the waltz "I'll See You Again."

Bitter-Sweet was premiered at His Majesty's Theatre in London on July 12, 1929, where it ran for nearly 700 performances. What promised to be a successful American run shortly thereafter was cut short by the stock market crash in October of the same year. The operetta was twice adapted for the screen; the first version (1933), directed by Herbert Wilcox, was exceeded in popularity by the Academy Award-nominated, Technicolor musical version directed by W. S. Van Dyke (1940), which starred singing silver-screen favorites Nelson Eddy and Jeannette MacDonald.





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