Brighton beach memoirs 1986 film biography

1984 play written by Neil Simon

This article is about the play. For the film based on the play, see Brighton Beach Memoirs (film).

Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographicalplay by Neil Simon. The play is a coming-of-age comedy focused on the main character of Eugene Morris Jerome, a Jewish teenager from a Polish immigrant family. It is set in September 1937 in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn, New York during The Great Depression. According to Simon, the play tells its story "through the eyes of a 15-year-old boy who is writing his memoirs—which is what I did when I was 15".

Brighton Beach Memoirs premiered in December 1982. In 1983, it received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and was nominated for the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding New Play. Brighton Beach Memoirs is the first play in what is known as Simon's Eugene trilogy, and was followed by Biloxi Blues (1984) and Broadway Bound (1986). The play was adapted into a film of the same name in 1986.

Productions

Brighton Beach Memoirs had a pre-Broadway engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on December 10, 1982, and following an additional pre-Broadway engagement at the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, the play premiered on Broadway at the Alvin Theatre on March 27, 1983 and transferred to the 46th Street Theatre, where it closed on May 11, 1986 after 1,299 performances and seven previews. Directed by Gene Saks, the cast featured Matthew Broderick (Eugene Jerome), Elizabeth Franz (Kate Jerome), Peter Michael Goetz (Jack Jerome), Mandy Ingber (Laurie Morton), Željko Ivanek (Stanley Jerome), Jodi Thelen (Nora Morton) and Joyce Van Patten (Blanche Morton). Van Patten joined the cast after Piper Laurie was let go during rehearsals. Scenic design was

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 adolescence in New York City, to his time spent in basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi during World War II, and finally to the beginning of his career as an aspiring comedy writer. The trilogy is a semi-autobiographical account of Neil Simon's own early life and career.

In an interview in 1986, Simon said: "'Brighton Beach' was going to be another singular play....Again, I still hadn't thought of a trilogy. But I decided to take Eugene the next step chronologically in my life, which was the army. But even after I wrote 'Biloxi Blues', I still didn't think about a sequel, because if it turned out to be a bomb, why would one want to do a sequel? So I just waited to see what would happen. Well, Biloxi enjoyed enormous success, and I thought of a third part".

Stage

Brighton Beach Memoirs premiered on Broadway on March 22, 1983;Biloxi Blues premiered on Broadway on March 28, 1985 and Broadway Bound premiered on Broadway on December 4, 1986.

Film

Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues were made into films, while Broadway Bound was adapted as a made-for-TV movie. On screen the role of Eugene Jerome was played by Jonathan Silverman in Brighton Beach Memoirs (he also played Stanley in the film version of Broadway Bound),Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues (he also played Eugene in the Broadway productions of both Brighton Beach and Biloxi Blues), and Corey Parker in Broadway Bound. In a 1992 interview, Simon explained that Broadway Bound was not adapted as a theatrical film like the previous two works in the trilo

NEIL SIMON 1983

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Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs is one of his most widely respected plays. Simon earned kudos for what many critics consider the best example of his efforts to combine his trademark humor with a level of drama and character introspection. Brighton Beach Memoirs was first produced at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles on December 10, 1982. It debuted on Broadway on March 27, 1983, at the Alvin Theatre. Like many of Simon’s successes, Brighton Beach Memoirs enjoyed a lengthy run and financial success. The play won Simon the New York Drama Critics Circle Prize for Best Play.

Critics attributed much of the success of Brighton Beach Memoirs to Simon’s newfound sophistication. Before this play, Simon had a long career of successful plays that were either comic or serious. His previous attempts to combine the two rarely impressed critics or audiences. Critics praised Brighton Beach for its deft characterizations and meaningful humor. Some attribute this to the fact that Simon knew his material well. Though not strictly autobiographical, Simon based the play on his memories of growing up in New York City in the years just before World War II. Despite the play’s success, some critics found Brighton Beach Memoirs superficial, comparing it to a soap opera, albeit one with good jokes.

The success of Brighton Beach Memoirs led to two more plays featuring protagonist Eugene Jerome and his family, 1985’s Biloxi Blues, which dealt with Eugene’s armed service years, and 1986’s Broadway Bound. Each of these plays received more positive reviews and contained more extensive autobiographical material than Brighton Beach Memoirs. With the success of this trilogy, Simon’s reputation as a premiere American playwright was cemented.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Simon was born on July 4,1927, in the