[NEohioPAL] Preview of "Broadway Bound" at Rabbit Run

[Bob Abelman]

Its 'Bound' to be touching, funny at Rabbit Run

 

Bob Abelman

News-Herald, Chagrin Valley Times, Solon Times, Geauga Times Courier

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics 

 

This preview appeared in the News-Herald 6/05/09

 

Time magazine once referred to Neil Simon as "The Patron Saint of Laughter." He has, after all, written 28 comedies, holds the record for the greatest number of hits in the American theater, and has had more plays turned into films than any other playwright.

 

Simon's awards include the Tony, the Emmy and a little thing called the Pulitzer.  His contributions during the very early days of television helped define the form of funny that currently dominates the world of entertainment.

 

The guy is good.  Real good.

 

So good, in fact, that he has written a trilogy of plays based on him.  One of them, the third in the series of semi-autobiographical productions, will be opening the summer season at The Rabbit Run Theater in Madison Township.

 

In the first play, Brighton Beach Memoirs, we are introduced to a 15-year-old aspiring comedy writer named Eugene Morris Jerome, who struggles to make sense out of life and sex in early-1940s Brooklyn.   In Biloxi Blues, Eugene's plans to become a writer are temporarily disrupted when he is drafted into the military during World War II.

 

In Broadway Bound, our Simon stand-in has returned to his family home in Brighton Beach and is on the verge of becoming canonized.  Eugene and his brother Stanley are trying to make it in the world of professional comedy and are given their big break when CBS hires them to write for an obscure radio show.  We also find Eugene's parents-the inspiration for much of his comic material-on the verge of separation.

 

"Neil Simon always writes about the human condition," notes Broadway Bound director Ann Hedger, who also spearheaded the production of Brighton Beach Memoirs when it was performed at Rabbit Run in 2004.  "Amidst a stream of very funny one-liners," she adds, "his plays are filled with some very dramatic and touching dialogue.  He's hilarious, but he is not light-weight dinner theater." 

 

He may not be dinner theater but, lately, he is certainly popular theater fare for many local playhouses.

 

A wave of Neil Simon productions-a tsunami, really-is evident in this year's theater schedules, due in large part to their nostalgic charm, evergreen sense of humor and relatable subject matter.

"Broadway Bound is particularly relevant these days," suggests Hedger.  "Eugene is coming of age in a world recovering from war that is filled with confusion, new challenges and new forms of entertainment technology.  Sound familiar?"   

 

Eugene and his brother are played by local area performers Brian and John Crowley.  Veteran actor and Rabbit Run regular Sandy Kosovich Peck, who played the boys' mother Kate in the 2004 Brighton Beach Memoirs production, reprises her role.  Rounding out the cast is Tom Milligan as the boys' father, Gail Steindler as Kate's sister and Joe Petrolia as the grandfather.

 

The healing powers of the Patron Saint of Laughter are on display at Rabbit Run, as the theater kick starts its 2009 summer season.

 

Details

 

What:     Broadway Bound

When:   Today through June 20 (8 p.m., Thursdays to Sundays).

Where:  Rabbit Run Theater, 5648 W. Chapel Rd., Madison. 

Tickets: $15 to $17.

Info:        440-428-7092 or www.rabbitrunonline.tix.com.
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