By Kenneth Jones
30 Oct 2009

Noah Robbins and Laurie Metcalf
photo by Joan Marcus

Following an Oct. 30 New York Times report indicating that Broadway's Brighton Beach Memoirs would close Nov. 1, and that its companion play, Broadway Bound, would not open for a run in repertory, producers of the revivals issued an evening statement that said a "provisional" closing notice has been posted for Nov. 1.

"The notice can be taken down at any time and no final decision on closing will be made until Monday, Nov. 2, when a statement will be issued," according to the Friday night statement.

Producers are huddling to figure out the future of the shows. Ticketmaster.com was still selling tickets to both plays as of 8:30 PM Friday.

Director David Cromer's production of Simon's autobiographical Brighton Beach Memoirs got respectable reviews after it opened at the Nederlander Theatre on Oct. 25. The sequel is to begin there Nov. 18 (toward a Dec. 10 opening), with some of the same cast members.

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Laurie Metcalf, Noah Robbins, Dennis Boutsikaris and Santino Fontana are in the cast of Brighton Beach. Previews began Oct. 2.

The plays share many of the same characters and focus on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Depression-era Brooklyn teenager (in Brighton Beach Memoirs) who grows into a budding comedy writer (Broadway Bound). Simon drew from his own family history to create the fictionalized autobiographical book-end plays of the trilogy that also includes Biloxi Blues, about his time in the Army in World War II. The three plays are interested in telling how writer Eugene (read Simon) developed as a storyteller over the years.

Brighton Beach Memoirs features "Roseanne" and Broadway November star Laurie Metcalf (Kate Jerome), Dennis Boutsikaris (Jack Jerome), Billy Elliot's Santino Fontana (Stanley Jerome), Last Night of Ballyhoo's Jessica Hecht (Blanche), Gracie Bea Lawrence (Laurie), Noah Robbins (Eugene Jerome) and Alexandra Socha (Nora).

Broadway Bound stars Metcalf (Kate Jerome), Boutsikaris (Jack Jerome), Fontana (Stanley Jerome), Hecht (Blanche), Josh Grisetti (Eugene Jerome) and Allan Miller (Ben).

According to the producers, Brighton Beach Memoirs "centers on young Jewish teen Eugene Morris Jerome and his extended family living in a crowded home in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn in 1937: his overworked father, Jack; overbearing mother, Kate; his older brother Stanley; Kate's widowed sister Blanche and her daughters, Nora and Laurie. As Eugene spends his time daydreaming about a baseball career, he must also cope with his family's troubles, his awkward discovery of the opposite sex and his developing identity as a writer."

In Broadway Bound, "it's the late 1940s. Eugene and his older brother Stanley have started their careers as professional comedy writers, but at home in Brighton Beach, their parents' marriage is falling apart. When the brothers use these troubles as inspiration for a radio comedy skit, the Jerome family may never be the same."

Scenic design is by John Lee Beatty, costume design is by Jane Greenwood and lighting design is by Brian MacDevitt.

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Brighton Beach originally opened on March 27, 1983, at the Alvin Theatre and played for 1,299 performances. (During the run, the Alvin Theatre was renamed The Neil Simon Theatre.) Broadway Bound opened on Dec. 4, 1986, at the Broadhurst Theatre, where it played for 756 performances.

Simon is the winner of three Tony Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Mark Twain Award for American Humor and was awarded a Kennedy Center Honor in 1995. Some of his plays include Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys, California Suite, Chapter Two, Lost in Yonkers, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, The Dinner Party and the books for the musicals for Little Me, Sweet Charity, Promises Promises, They're Playing Our Song and The Goodbye Girl.

The David T. Nederlander Theatre is located at 208 West 41st Street in Manhattan.

Tickets are available at www.Ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit TheNeilSimonPlays.com.