Broadway's Neil Simon Plays Will Close Nov. 1

By Kenneth Jones
31 Oct 2009

Noah Robbins and Laurie Metcalf
Noah Robbins and Laurie Metcalf
Photo by Joan Marcus

The producers of The Neil Simon Plays, the in-repertory Broadway packaging of Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, announced on Oct. 31 that the works would not continue beyond Nov. 1.

Brighton Beach Memoirs, which opened at the Nederlander Theatre on Oct. 25, will close Nov. 1 after nine performances and 25 previews. The sequel, Broadway Bound, recently in rehearsal, will no got forward (it was to start previews on Nov. 18).

The productions are directed by David Cromer. Brighton Beach Memoirs got respectable reviews but the box office did not boom.

"A lot of nice people on stage and off will be out of work and a lot of good partners and investors will have lost a great deal of money," stated producers Emanuel Azenberg and Ira Pittelman. "They all deserve better. It makes us sad."

Brighton Beach Memoirs stars Laurie Metcalf (Kate Jerome) and Dennis Boutsikaris (Jack Jerome) with Santino Fontana (Stanley Jerome), Jessica Hecht (Blanche), Gracie Bea Lawrence (Laurie), Noah Robbins (Eugene Jerome) and Alexandra Socha (Nora). Broadway Bound stars Laurie Metcalf (Kate Jerome) and Dennis Boutsikaris (Jack Jerome) with Santino Fontana (Stanley Jerome), Jessica Hecht (Blanche), Josh Grisetti (Eugene Jerome) and Allan Miller (Ben).

Scenic design is by John Lee Beatty, costume design is by Jane Greenwood, lighting design is by Brian MacDevitt and sound design is by Josh Schmidt and Fitz Patton. Hair and wig design is by Tom Watson.

The pairing is produced by Ira Pittelman, Max Cooper, Jeffrey Sine, Scott Delman, Ruth Hendel, Roy Furman, Ben Sprecher/Wendy Federman, Scott Landis and Emanuel Azenberg.

For refunds on future tickets, go to the point of purchase. Tickets to Nov, 1 are available at www.TicketMaster.com at (212) 307-4100 or at the Nederlander Theatre box office (208 West 41st Street).