''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' 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 peri ...

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 ...

, the first 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 adol ...

. It precedes '' Biloxi Blues'' and ''

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 ...

''.

Productions

''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' had a pre-Broadway engagement 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 and ...

in Los Angeles on December 10, 1982, and following an additional pre-Broadway engagement 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, the play premiered 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 Stree ...

at the

Alvin 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 27, 1983 and transferred to the 46th Street Theatre, where it closed on May 11, 1986 after 1,299 performances and 7 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 featured

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) ...

(Eugene Jerome),

Elizabeth Franz Elizabeth Franz (born Betty Jean Frankovich) is an American stage and television actress. Life and career Franz was born Betty Jean Frankovich in Akron, Ohio, the daughter of a factory worker. She won a Tony Award for her role as Linda Lo ...

(Kate Jerome),

Peter Michael Goetz Peter Michael Goetz (born December 10, 1941) is an American actor. Early life and education Goetz was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther L. and Irving A. Goetz, a construction engineer.Mandy Ingber Mandy Ingber (born January 11th, 1968 ), sometimes credited as Amanda Ingber, is a yoga instructor and a former actress. Before yoga, Ingber became an indoor cycling instructor at the age of 28. In her childhood, she was introduced to yoga by he ...

(Laurie Morton),

Željko Ivanek Željko Ivanek (né Šimić-Ivanek; ; ; born August 15, 1957) is an American actor, known for his role as Ray Fiske on '' Damages'', for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Ivanek is also known for his role of Ed Danvers on '' Homicide: Life on ...

(Stanley Jerome),

Jodi Thelen Jodi Thelen (born June 12, 1962) is an American actress. Born in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Thelen made her screen debut as Georgia Miles, "a willfully free-spirited girl, naive and narcissistic" in '' Four Friends'' in 1981. Thelen appeared on Bro ...

(Nora Morton) and

Joyce Van Patten Joyce Benignia Van Patten (born March 9, 1934) is an American film and stage actress. She is best known for her roles in films like '' The Bad News Bears'' (1976), ''St. Elmo's Fire'' (1985) (as Mrs. Beamish), and as Rob Schneider's septuagenari ...

(Blanche Morton). Van Patten joined the cast after

Piper Laurie Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932) is an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films ''The Hustler'' (1961), '' Carrie'' (1976), and '' Children of a Lesser God'' (1986), all of which brought her Academy Award no ...

was let go during rehearsals. Scenic design was by David Mitchell, Costumes were by

Patricia Zipprodt Patricia Zipprodt (February 24, 1925 – July 17, 1999) was an American costume designer. She was known for her technique of painting fabrics and thoroughly researching a project's subject matter, especially when it was a period piece. During a c ...

and lighting was by

Tharon Musser Tharon Myrene Musser (January 8, 1925 – April 19, 2009) Rich, Frank
"Theater Review. Neil Simon's Brighton Beach' "
''

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 ...

'', March 28, 1983 Cast replacements included

Fisher Stevens Fisher Stevens (born Steven Fisher; November 27, 1963) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in ''Short Circuit'' and '' Short Circuit 2'', Chuck Fishman on the 1990s televi ...

Doug McKeon Doug McKeon (born June 10, 1966) is an American actor who first achieved notability as a child actor. Early life and career McKeon was born on June 10, 1966, in Pompton Plains, New Jersey, and raised in Oakland, New Jersey, where he attended ...

Jon Cryer Jonathan Niven Cryer (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor, writer, director and producer. Born into a show business family, he made his motion picture debut as a teenage photographer in the 1984 romantic comedy ''No Small Affair''; his bre ...

Robert Sean Leonard Robert Lawrence Leonard (born February 28, 1969), known by his stage name Robert Sean Leonard, is an American actor. He is best known for playing Dr. James Wilson in the television series ''House'' (2004–2012) and Neil Perry in the film ''Dea ...

, 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 was ...

as Eugene and

Elizabeth Perkins Elizabeth Ann Perkins (born November 18, 1960) is an American actress. Her film roles have included ''About Last Night'' (1986), '' Big'' (1988), ''Avalon'' (1990), and '' He Said, She Said'' (1991), ''The Flintstones'' (1994), ''Miracle on 34th ...

Josh Hamilton Joshua Holt Hamilton (born May 21, 1981) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball as an outfielder from to , most prominently as a member of the Texas Rangers teams that won two consecutive Americ ...

Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci Jr. ( ; born November 11, 1960) is an American actor and filmmaker. Involved in acting from a young age, he made his film debut in John Huston's '' Prizzi's Honor'' (1985), and continued to play a variety of supporting roles in fil ...

, Anita Gillette,

Patrick Breen Joseph Patrick Breen (born October 26, 1960) is an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Early life Breen was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 26, 1960. Career He has acted primarily on TV but has also appeared in numerous films, ...

Dick Latessa Richard Robert Latessa (September 15, 1929 – December 19, 2016) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Latessa was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1929. After serving in the Army in maybe 1952, he began performing in Clevela ...

and

Verna Bloom Verna Frances Bloom (August 7, 1938 – January 9, 2019) was an American actress. Career On Broadway, Bloom portrayed Charlotte Corday in '' The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Chare ...

in other roles. ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' is the last non-musical play to run over 1,000 consecutive performances on Broadway. ;Broadway revival A revival opened on Broadway on October 25, 2009 at the

Nederlander Theatre The Nederlander Theatre (formerly the National Theatre, the Billy Rose Theatre, and the Trafalgar Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 208 West 41st Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1921, it was des ...

. Directed by

David Cromer David Cromer (born October 17, 1964) is an American theatre director, and stage, film, and TV actor. He has received recognition for his work on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous aw ...

, the cast featured

Laurie Metcalf Laura Elizabeth Metcalf (born June 16, 1955) is an American actress. Often described as a character actor, she's known for her complex and versitile roles across the stage and screen. She has received various accolades throughout her career sp ...

as Kate Jerome and

Dennis Boutsikaris Dennis Boutsikaris (; born December 21, 1952) is an American character actor who has won the Obie Award twice. He is also a narrator of audiobooks, for which he has won 13 Golden Earphone Awards and 8 Audie Awards. He won Best Audiobook of the Y ...

as Jack Jerome, with

Santino Fontana Santino Fontana (born March 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He has received a Tony Award, two Drama Desk Awards, an Outer Critics Circle Award, Lortel Award, Obie Award, and Clarence Derwent Award in a mix of straight plays and musica ...

as Stanley Jerome,

Jessica Hecht Jessica Hecht is an American actress and singer who played Gretchen Schwartz on '' Breaking Bad'', Susan Bunch on ''Friends'', and Carol on '' The Boys''. She has also made numerous Broadway appearances. Early life and education Hecht was born ...

as Blanche, Gracie Bea Lawrence as Laurie,

Noah Robbins Noah Robbins is an American actor. Background Robbins is a native of Washington, D.C. and graduated from Georgetown Day School in 2009. Robbins made his Broadway debut in the 2009 production of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs ''Brighton Beach Me ...

as Eugene and

Alexandra Socha Alexandra Socha (born April 10, 1990) is an American actress who made her Broadway debut in the rock musical ''Spring Awakening (musical), Spring Awakening'' in May 2008. Other notable stage appearances include Nora in the brief 2009 revival of '' ...

as Nora. The production was planned to run in repertory with ''

'', which was to feature the same cast with the exception of

Josh Grisetti Josh Grisetti (born December 1, 1981)Josh Grisetti biography
IMDb.com is an American actor, ...

, who was to assume the role of the "older" Eugene (played by

in the earlier play) and Allan Miller in the role of Ben. The two plays were produced and promoted as "The Neil Simon Plays". Despite generally positive reviews from New York critics, ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' closed on November 1, 2009 after 9 performances and 25 previews due to weak ticket sales. Subsequently, the planned production of ''

'' was cancelled. ''

'', in analyzing the revival's failure, wrote that "What went wrong with 'Brighton Beach Memoirs' is a case study in success and failure on Broadway today. There were no big stars like Jude Law in the current commercial hit 'Hamlet,' there was no marketing campaign that framed the Simon play as a can’t-miss theatrical event, and there was no wow factor that brought the period piece to life, like the breakneck pacing of the popular farce 'Boeing-Boeing' last year. But the failure also reflects America’s evolving sense of humor and taste... It actually received good reviews, but the play was shuttered because people, for whatever reason, did not want to see the Simon show about a Depression-era family laughing through the tears. The show cost $3 million to produce but never grossed more than $125,000 a week in ticket sales during preview performances — or 15 percent of the maximum possible — an amount that did not even cover running costs."

Plot overview

Set in the

Brighton Beach Brighton Beach is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach is bounded by Coney Island proper at Ocean Parkway to the ...

section of

Brooklyn, New York 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, be ...

in September 1937 during

The Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, this

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

American teenager who experiences

puberty Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. ...

, sexual awakening, and a search for identity as he tries to deal with his family, including his older brother Stanley, his parents Kate and Jack, Kate's sister Blanche, and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie, who come to live there after their father's death. The new living arrangement is taking its toll on Jack's health, as he has to work two stressful jobs to support the extended family. Meanwhile Aunt Blanche is interested in dating their neighbor, who has a drinking problem, despite Kate's objections; Stanley faces problems with his own job, when he stands up to his somewhat tyrannical boss, and later resorts to some shady means to support the family's struggle; cousin Nora, whom Eugene has a crush on, is eager to be a paid dancer in a Broadway musical, even though the family's circumstances might not allow it, much to her dismay; and cousin Laurie, who has heart problems and requires frequent doctor visits, is a source of annoyance for Eugene. All the while the family has other relatives living in Poland, which is under invasion, and they are worried about what might happen if they remain there, or how they'll be able to put them up if they escape and come to Brooklyn.

Characters

*Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15 *Stanley Jerome, 18½: Eugene's older brother *Blanche Morton, 38: Eugene's widowed aunt *Nora Morton, 16½: Eugene's older cousin *Laurie Morton, 13: Eugene's younger cousin, has heart problems *with Kate Jerome, about 40: Eugene's mother, a strong Jewish matriarch *and Jacob "Jack" Jerome, about 40: Eugene's father

Awards and nominations

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 ...

(Broderick, winner; Ivanek, nominee) *

Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Featured Actress 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 actresses for quality supporting roles in a Broadway play. The ...

(Franz, nominee) *

Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play The Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play has been given since 1960. Before 1960 there was only one award for both play direction and musical direction, then in 1960 the award was split into two categories: ''Dramatic'' and ''Musical''. In 1976 ...

(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 theatre, Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945� ...

(Broderick, winner) *

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. The award was initially introduced in 1955 as the Vern ...

(nominee) *

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. The awards were established in 1955, with a ...

(Broderick, nominee) *

New York Drama Critics' Circle The New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 22 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization is best known for its annual awards for excellence in theater.Jone ...

Award for Best Play (winner)

Jewish culture

Because of Neil Simon’s Jewish background and upbringing, much of his work, ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' being a clear example, is semi-autobiographical. Simon infused Jewish humor into ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' and represented Jewish culture in a way that many Jews found comforting and reminiscent of their families. Through his characters, Simon also showed real American Jews what they looked like, offering "an unsettling mirror: one in which we watched our community identify as Jews only in the most cursory ways, through humor and cultural touchstones".

Reception

Reviews for the original Broadway production were mixed. Clive Barnes of the ''New York Post'' called ''Brighton Beach Memoirs'' Simon's "best play yet" but also "a slight disappointment" because the playwright "always pulls back from the jugular."

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 ...

of the ''New York Times'' judged the play to be "a pleasant evening" that "never quite stops being nice and starts being either consistently involving or entertaining." Nevertheless, the play was popular with Broadway audiences and had a long and successful run. When the play was not nominated for the Tony Award for Best Play, producer

Emanuel Azenberg Emanuel "Manny" Azenberg (born January 22, 1934) is an American theatre producer and general manager whose professional relationship with playwright Neil Simon spans thirty-three years. Life and career Azenberg was born in The Bronx, the son of Ha ...

called the snub "an outrageous injustice" and "a personal insult," and ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' published an editorial declaring "Neil Simon Deserves Better." In 1983 Dolores Dolan of ''

'' said that after it achieved popularity on Broadway, the community of

"attracted some notice" when it had historically "receive little attention".Dolan, Dolores.
IF YOU'RE THINKING OF LIVING IN: BRIGHTON BEACH
" ''

''. June 19, 1983. Retrieved on October 15, 2012.

Film adaptation

In 1986 the play was adapted into a movie directed by

with the screenplay by Neil Simon. The cast featured

(Eugene), Blythe Danner (Kate),

Bob Dishy Bob Dishy is an American actor of stage, film, and television. Biography He is best remembered today for playing Sergeant John J. Wilson, Columbo's polite, respectful assistant in two episodes of ''Columbo'' ("Now You See Him" and "The Greenho ...

(Jack),

Lisa Waltz Lisa Waltz is an American actress who has had roles in many television shows and who played Nora in the film adaptation of ''Brighton Beach Memoirs''. Personal life Waltz was born and raised in Limerick, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Bobby and ...

(Nora), Brian Drillinger (Stanley), Stacey Glick (Laurie), and

Judith Ivey Judith Lee Ivey (born September 4, 1951) is an American actress and theatre director. She has twice won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play: for ''Steaming'' (1981) and '' Hurlyburly'' (1984). She has also appeared in several film ...

(Blanche). The film frequently breaks the

fourth wall The fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

by having Eugene speak directly to the camera.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

, in his review for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' wrote: "The movie feels so plotted, so constructed, so written, that I found myself thinking maybe they shouldn't have filmed the final draft of the screenplay. Maybe there was an earlier draft that was a little disorganized and unpolished, but still had the jumble of life in it.... The movie was directed by Gene Saks, who directs many of Simon's plays on both the stage and the screen, and whose gift is for the theater. His plays have the breath of life; his movies feel like the official authorized version. Everything is by the numbers."

References

External links

* *
archive

2009 Broadway Revival Official Website
{{Neil Simon 1982 plays Broadway plays Plays by Neil Simon Autobiographical plays Plays set in New York City Plays set in the 1930s Brooklyn in fiction American plays adapted into films Brighton Beach