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Rose's Dilemma, Neil Simon's 33rd Play, Gets Manhattan Theatre Club Berth, Nov. 20
By Kenneth Jones
10 Jun 2003
Neil Simon's 33rd play, Rose and Walsh, seen in Los Angeles earlier this year in a hit run at the Geffen Playhouse, will be called Rose's Dilemma when it makes its New York premiere at Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club Stage I this fall.
David Esbjornson will again direct the Long Island-set play about two literary lovers, for a run Nov. 20-Jan. 18, 2004. One imagines that with the title change there was also some tweaking of the script since the January 2003 debut.
The staging at the Geffen starred Len Cariou as Walsh and Jane Alexander as Rose, with David Aaron Baker and Marin Hinkle as young foils (she played Rose's assistant, he played a young writer). No casting has been announced for the New York run, nor has the design team.
The Geffen synopsis was: "Rose and Walsh follows two great literary figures and the depth and consequence of their enduring love. At a beautiful beach house on the tip of Long Island, Rose (Jane Alexander), a celebrated but near penniless author, receives nightly visits from Walsh (Len Cariou), the love of her life and a famous writer himself. Now Walsh must go away forever, but not before securing Rose's financial future with an extraordinary proposal that promises to change everything."
Playbill On-Line previously reported MTC was exploring the project for a possible run.
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The Geffen run, which opened Jan. 28, was scheduled to close March 9, but got extended to March 22. Enthusiastic reviews greeted it, with Variety's critic saying "there's a big audience for a work like this, especially when it's in the hands of these four fine actors."
The Variety review went on to say "Rose and Walsh could well see extended runs anywhere it's
staged — even Broadway."
The reviewer also gave away all the play's plot points and secrets (fans call these "spoilers"). Suffice to say the play deals with mortality, death and literary legacies. The play was said to be inspired by the relationship between Dashiell Hammett and Lillian Hellman.
For more information, visit www.manhattantheatreclub.org.
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