Brighton Beach Memoirs: Yes, they were Jewish enough.
I’m bummed that the revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs closed today after only one week of official performances, and that the revival of Broadway Bound will not go on as planned. We saw Brighton Beach Memoirs a few weeks ago and even though it wasn’t a perfect production, I really enjoyed it.
I feel a connection to these plays, beyond being Jewish. I took an acting class in college where I had to play Eugene Jerome in the scene from Brighton Beach Memoirs in which the two brothers discuss masturbation, naked girls, etc. And I saw the original production of Broadway Bound, with Joan Rivers playing Kate (she took over from Linda Lavin). I was looking forward to seeing the revival. Now poor Josh Grisetti won’t be able to make his Broadway debut after all.
I wonder what went wrong. It seems like the revivals just weren’t marketed very well and that the producers expected audiences to flock to them because they’re two of Neil Simon’s most beloved plays. But I guess Neil Simon just isn’t the draw he used to be.
Thanks for the link. I’ve been reading so many post-mortems my head is starting to hurt. I just can’t believe it. I don’t know what went wrong: poor marketing and capitalization, Neil Simon’s audience has died or moved to Florida, the Nederlander is on the outskirts of the theatre district, they should have opened both plays at once to create buzz, no stars. I don’t know. It’s just sad. This was the first time I’d seen a Neil Simon play onstage. I really loved it.