Brighton Beach Memoirs
Encyclopedia
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
.
Act 2: Wednesday, a week later, about 6:30 in the evening
section of Brooklyn, New York in 1937, this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish
-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty
, 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, and Kate's sister Blanche and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie, who come to live there after their father's death .
and staring Jonathan Silverman
.
, opened on October 25, 2009, at the Nederlander Theatre. Headlining the show are Laurie Metcalf
as Kate Jerome and Dennis Boutsikaris
as Jack Jerome, with Santino Fontana
as Stanley Jerome, Jessica Hecht
as Blanche, Gracie Bea Lawrence
as Laurie, Noah Robbins as Eugene, Alexandra Socha
as Nora.
The production was planned to run in repertory with Broadway Bound
, which was to feature the same cast with the exception of Josh Grisetti
, who was to assume the role of the "older" Eugene (played by Noah Robbins 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 due to weak ticket sales. Subsequently, the planned production of Broadway Bound
was cancelled.
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
play by Neil Simon
Neil Simon
Neil Simon is an American playwright and screenwriter. He has written numerous Broadway plays, including Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues, and The Odd Couple. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Lost In Yonkers. He has written the screenplays for several of his plays that...
, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy
Eugene Trilogy
The Eugene Trilogy refers to three plays written by Neil Simon: the first being Brighton Beach Memoirs, the second is Biloxi Blues, and the third being Broadway Bound...
. It precedes Biloxi Blues
Biloxi Blues
Biloxi Blues is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. The second chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy, it follows Brighton Beach Memoirs and precedes Broadway Bound....
and Broadway Bound
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....
.
Characters
- Eugene Morris Jerome, almost 15
- Blanche Morton, 38: Eugene's widowed aunt
- Kate Jerome, about 40: Eugene's mother, a strong Jewish matriarch
- Laurie Morton, 13: Eugene's younger cousin
- Nora Morton, 16½: Eugene's beautiful older cousin
- Stanley Jerome, 18½: Eugene's older brother
- Jack Jerome, about 40: Eugene's father
Opening night cast
- Eugene Jerome--Matthew BroderickMatthew BroderickMatthew Broderick is an American film and stage actor who, among other roles, played the title character in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Adult Simba in The Lion King film series, and Leo Bloom in the film and Broadway productions of The Producers.He has won two Tony Awards, one in 1983 for his...
- Kate Jerome--Elizabeth FranzElizabeth FranzElizabeth Franz 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....
- Jack Jerome--Peter Michael GoetzPeter Michael GoetzPeter Michael Goetz is an American actor.Goetz was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Esther L. and Irving A. Goetz, a construction engineer. Goetz studied at the State University of New York at Fredonia, Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and the University of Minnesota, from which he...
- Laurie Morton—Mandy Ingber
- Stanley Jerome--Željko IvanekŽeljko IvanekŽeljko Ivanek is an Emmy award-winning Slovenian American actor best known for his role as Ray Fiske on Damages. He is also known for playing Blake Sterling on short-lived NBC series The Event and Emile Danko on Heroes....
- Nora Morton--Jodi ThelenJodi ThelenJodi Thelen 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....
- Blanche Morton--Joyce Van PattenJoyce Van PattenJoyce Benignia Van Patten is an American stage, film and television actress.-Personal life:Van Patten was born in New York City, the daughter of Josephine Rose , an Italian American magazine advertising executive, and Richard Byron Van Patten, a Dutch American interior decorator.She is the younger...
Act summaries
Act 1: Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, September 1937, 6:30 PMAct 2: Wednesday, a week later, about 6:30 in the evening
Summary
Set in the Brighton BeachBrighton Beach
Brighton Beach is an oceanside neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As of 2000, it has a population of 75,692 with a total of 31,228 households.-Location:...
section of Brooklyn, New York in 1937, this coming-of-age comedy focuses on Eugene Morris Jerome, a Polish
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
-Jewish American teenager who experiences puberty
Puberty
Puberty is the process of physical changes by which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of reproduction, as 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, and Kate's sister Blanche and her two daughters, Nora and Laurie, who come to live there after their father's death .
Film adaptation
The play was adapted into a movie in 1986 directed by Gene SaksGene Saks
Gene Saks is an American stage and film director.-Life and career:Saks was born in New York City, the son of Beatrix and Morris J. Saks...
and staring Jonathan Silverman
Jonathan Silverman
-Personal life:Silverman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Devora and Hillel Emanuel Silverman, a rabbi. He is the grandson of famous Conservative Rabbi Morris Silverman. David Schwimmer was his best friend in high school. He is married to actress Jennifer Finnigan who he briefly co...
.
Broadway revival
A Broadway revival, directed by David CromerDavid Cromer
David Cromer is an American theatre director and stage actor. He has received recognition for his work Off-Broadway and in his native Chicago. Cromer has won or been nominated for numerous awards, including winning the Lucille Lortel Award and Obie Award for his direction of Our Town...
, opened on October 25, 2009, at the Nederlander Theatre. Headlining the show are Laurie Metcalf
Laurie Metcalf
Lauren Elizabeth "Laurie" Metcalf is an American actress. She is widely known for her performance as Jackie Harris on the ABC sitcom Roseanne, Mary Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, the voice of Mrs. Davis in the Toy Story film series and as Debbie Salt in Scream 2...
as Kate Jerome and Dennis Boutsikaris
Dennis Boutsikaris
Dennis Boutsikaris is an American two-time Obie-Award winning character actor. He is a Broadway Actor and frequent television guest star and leading man in made-for-TV movies...
as Jack Jerome, with Santino Fontana
Santino Fontana
Santino Fontana is an American stage actor, director, and composer. Fontana graduated Richland High School in Richland, WA in 2000. His Broadway debut was Sunday in the Park with George in 2007. Fontana originated the role of Tony in the Broadway production of Billy Elliot from October 1, 2008 to...
as Stanley Jerome, Jessica Hecht
Jessica Hecht
Jessica Hecht is an American actress, known for numerous Broadway appearances and TV roles.-Background:Hecht was born in Princeton, New Jersey, the daughter of Lenore, a psychotherapist, and Richard Hecht, a physicist. Jessica moved with her parents and her sister to Bloomfield, CT, at the age of...
as Blanche, Gracie Bea Lawrence
Gracie Bea Lawrence
Gracie Bea Lawrence is an American actress. She made her debut in Phoebe in Wonderland , starring as Julie. She also starred as Lucy Granger in Did You Hear About the Morgans? and as Gracie in A Little Help ....
as Laurie, Noah Robbins as Eugene, Alexandra Socha
Alexandra Socha
Alexandra Socha is an American actress who took over the leading role of Wendla in the rock musical Spring Awakening in May 2008. She next appeared in the first Broadway revival of the Neil Simon play Brighton Beach Memoirs, as Nora.-Life and career:...
as Nora.
The production was planned to run in repertory with Broadway Bound
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....
, which was to feature the same cast with the exception of Josh Grisetti
Josh Grisetti
Joshua Steven "Josh" Grisetti is an American actor involved in theatre, television and film.- Early life :Grisetti was born in Washington D.C. and grew-up in Rocky Mount, Virginia. He attended Franklin County High School until his junior year, when he transferred to the North Carolina School of...
, who was to assume the role of the "older" Eugene (played by Noah Robbins 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 due to weak ticket sales. Subsequently, the planned production of Broadway Bound
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....
was cancelled.
Awards and nominations
- Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a PlayThis is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play. The award has been presented since 1949.-1950s:* 1951: Eli Wallach – The Rose Tattoo* 1952: John Cromwell – Point of No Return...
(Broderick, winner; Ivanek, nominee) - Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayTony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a PlayThis is a list of winners and nomination of the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress. The award was first presented in 1947.-1940s:* 1947: Patricia Neal – Another Part of the Forest* 1949: Shirley Booth – Goodbye, My Fancy-1950s:...
(Franz, nominee) - Tony Award for Best Direction of a PlayTony Award for Best Direction of a PlayThe 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 the Dramatic category was renamed to Play...
(winner) - Theatre World AwardTheatre World AwardThe Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, 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.-History:...
(Broderick, winner) - Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play (nominee)
- Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a PlayDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a PlayThe Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play was first awarded at the 1974–1975 Drama Desk Awards and has been awarded every year since. Before the 21st Drama Desk Awards, acting awards were given without making distinctions between roles in straight dramas as opposed to musicals, nor were...
(Broderick, nominee) - New York Drama Critics' CircleNew York Drama Critics' CircleThe New York Drama Critics' Circle is made up of 24 drama critics from daily newspapers, magazines and wire services based in the New York City metropolitan area. The organization was founded in 1935 at the Algonquin Hotel by a group that included Brooks Atkinson, Walter Winchell, and Robert Benchley...
Award for Best Play (winner)