''Biloxi Blues'' is a semi-

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English per ...

play by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He has received mo ...

. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in

Biloxi, Mississippi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in and one of two county seats of Harrison County, Mississippi, United States (the other being the adjacent city of Gulfport). The 2010 United States Census recorded the population as 44,054 and in 2019 the estimated popu ...

, seen through the eyes of Eugene Jerome, one of the other soldiers. This play is the second chapter in what is known as his ''

Eugene trilogy __NOTOC__ The Eugene Trilogy refers to three plays written by Neil Simon, the "quasi-autobiographical trilogy" ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', ''Biloxi Blues'' and ''Broadway Bound''. History The trilogy tells the story of Eugene Jerome from his adoles ...

'', following ''

Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes ''Biloxi Blues'' and '' Broadway Bound''. Productions ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' had a pre-Broadway ...

'' and preceding ''

Broadway Bound ''Broadway Bound'' is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It is the last chapter in his Eugene trilogy, following ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and ''Biloxi Blues''. Plot overview The play is about Eugene and his older brother, Stanley, dea ...

'', and is the only one in which Eugene is not the central character. The play won the

Tony Award for Best Play The Tony Award for Best Play (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award given to the best new (non-musical) play on Broadway, as determined by Tony Award voters. There was no award in the Tonys' first year ...

, and Barry Miller won a

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. Honors i ...

for his performance as Arnold Epstein.

Plot overview

The story begins with 18-year-old Eugene Morris Jerome from

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, beh ...

, who is drafted into the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

during World War II and is sent to

for basic training. There he meets a diverse assortment of soldiers, including the gentle and intelligent Arnold Epstein, who is the play's central figure. The piece portrays Epstein's struggle for power with middle-aged, hard-drinking platoon leader Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey. In a memorable scene, Epstein manages to force Toomey to perform two hundred push-ups in front of the platoon.

Production

''Biloxi Blues'' had its world premiere at the

Ahmanson Theatre The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that compose the Los Angeles Music Center. History The theatre was built as a result of a donation from Howard F. Ahmanson Sr, the founder of H.F. Ahmanson & Co., an insurance and savings a ...

, Los Angeles, California, running from December 8, 1984 to February 2, 1985. It then ran at the

Curran Theatre The Curran Theatre, located at 445 Geary Street between Taylor and Mason Streets in the Theatre District of San Francisco, California opened in February 1922, and was named after its first owner, Homer Curran. As of 2014, the theater is owned by ...

in San Francisco from February 6 through March 9, 1985. ''Biloxi Blues'' opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

at the

Neil Simon Theatre The Neil Simon Theatre, originally the Alvin Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 250 West 52nd Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was built for ...

on March 28, 1985 and closed on June 28, 1986 after 524 performances and 12 previews. Directed by

Gene Saks Gene Saks (born Jean Michael Saks; November 8, 1921 – March 28, 2015) was an American director and actor. An inductee of the American Theater Hall of Fame, his acting career began with a Broadway debut in 1949. As a director, he was nominated ...

, the cast starred Barry Miller as Arnold and

Matthew Broderick Matthew Broderick (born March 21, 1962) is an American actor. His roles include the Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of the title character in '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986), the voice of adult Simba in Disney's ''The Lion King'' (1994) ...

as Eugene.

Scenic Design Scenic design (also known as scenography, stage design, or set design) is the creation of theatrical, as well as film or television scenery. Scenic designers come from a variety of artistic backgrounds, but in recent years, are mostly trained ...

was by David Mitchell,

costume design Costume design is the creation of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the arti ...

Ann Roth Ann Bishop Roth (born October 30, 1931) is an American costume designer. She has designed the costumes of various prominent films, and has been nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Costume Design, winning twice for; '' The English ...

, and

lighting design In theatre, a lighting designer (or LD) works with the director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and sound designer to create the lighting, atmosphere, and time of day for the production in response to the text while keeping in ...

Tharon Musser Tharon Myrene Musser (January 8, 1925 – April 19, 2009)Emanuel Azenberg served as producer in association with

Center Theatre Group Center Theatre Group is a non-profit arts organization located in Los Angeles, California. It is one of the largest theatre companies in the nation, programming subscription seasons year-round at the Mark Taper Forum, the Ahmanson Theatre and th ...

."'Biloxi Blues'"
Internet Broadway Database, accessed April 12, 2012Rich, Frank.

''The New York Times'', March 29, 1985

Opening cast

Sources:Internet Broadway Database; ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' * William Sadler - Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey * Barry Miller - Arnold Epstein *

Penelope Ann Miller Penelope Ann Miller (born Penelope Andrea Miller; January 13, 1964), sometimes credited as Penelope Miller, is an American actress. She began her career on Broadway in the 1985 original production of ''Biloxi Blues'' and received a Tony Award no ...

- Daisy Hannigan * Randall Edwards - Rowena *

- Eugene * Matt Mulhern - Joseph Wykowski *

Alan Ruck Alan Douglas Ruck (born July 1, 1956) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Cameron Frye, Ferris Bueller's best friend, in John Hughes's film '' Ferris Bueller's Day Off'' (1986); Stuart Bondek, a lecherous, power-hungry member o ...

- Don Carney *Geoffrey Sharp - James Hennesey *

Brian Tarantina Brian Tarantina (March 27, 1959 – November 2, 2019) was an American stage, screen, and television character actor born in New York City. He was known for his roles on such shows as ''One Life to Live'', '' The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'', and ''Gi ...

- Roy Selridge

Notable replacements

Matthew Broderick was succeeded by Bruce Norris,

Zach Galligan Zachary Wolfe Galligan (born February 14, 1964) is an American actor. He is best known for starring as Billy Peltzer in the comedy-horror films ''Gremlins'' (1984) and '' Gremlins 2: The New Batch'' (1990). Early life and education Galligan was ...

William Ragsdale William Ragsdale (born January 19, 1961) is an American actor known for playing teenaged vampire slayer Charley Brewster in the horror vampire film '' Fright Night'' (1985) and Herman Brooks in the television series ''Herman's Head'' (1991–94 ...

, and

Jonathan Silverman Jonathan Elihu Silverman (born August 5, 1966) is an American actor, known for his roles in the comedy films ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'', '' Weekend at Bernie's'', and its sequel '' Weekend at Bernie's II''. Early life and education Silverman w ...

Jamey Sheridan James Patrick Sheridan (born July 12, 1951) is an American actor known for playing a wide range of roles in theater, film, and television. He's best known for Randall Flagg in '' The Stand'' (1994), Captain James Deakins on '' Law & Order: Crimin ...

replaced William Sadler as Sgt. Toomey.

Response

Frank Rich Frank Hart Rich Jr. (born 1949) is an American essayist and liberal op-ed columnist, who held various positions within ''The New York Times'' from 1980 to 2011. He has also produced television series and documentaries for HBO. Rich is current ...

wrote: "Besides being extremely funny, ''Biloxi Blues'' is Mr. Simon's first serious attempt to examine his conscience as an artist and a Jew."

Awards and nominations

Source: Tony Awards at BroadwayWorld, Playbill *

(winner) *

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, to actors for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. Honors i ...

(Barry Miller, winner) * Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play (Gene Saks, winner) *

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

(Barry Miller, winner) * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (nominee) *

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the pri ...

(Barry Miller, winner; William Sadler, nominee) * Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Director of a Play (Gene Saks, nominee) *New York Drama Critics' Circle for Best Play (nominee)

Film adaptation

A 1988 film adaptation was directed by

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

. The cast starred Broderick as Eugene, with Christopher Walken (Sgt. Toomey), Matt Mulhern (Wykowski), Corey Parker (Epstein), Markus Flanagan (Selridge), Casey Siemaszko (Carney) and

(Daisy). Canby, Vincent
"Review/Film; Film: Simon's 'Biloxi Blues,' Coming of Age in the Army"
''The New York Times'', March 25, 1988 Reprising their stage roles in the movie were Broderick, Miller, and Mulhern.

References

External links

* *
archive
{{TonyAwardBestPlay 1976-2000 1984 plays American plays adapted into films Autobiographical plays Broadway plays Plays by Neil Simon Plays set in Mississippi Plays set in the 1940s Plays about World War II Sequel plays Tony Award-winning plays Works about Mississippi