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Neil Simon's
Barefoot in the Park
Performance Dates:
Opening night: May 1 at 7:30 7:30 Performances: May 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, and 17 5:00 Performances: May 4, 11, and 18 Cast: Doug Schirmer as Paul Kamala Chambers as Corrie
Yvonne Buijs-Mancuso as Ethel
Dorian Oliver as Victor
Marc Wynn as the telephone man Ernest Pugh as the delivery man
Director: Ed Strum
Barefoot in the Park is one of Neil Simon's best loved romantic comedies. Published in 1964 and first performed on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on October 23, 1963, Barefoot in the Park was Simon's first major success and his longest running comedy. Hailed by critics as "a bubbling, rib-tickling comedy," Barefoot in the Park entertained thousands of theatregoers. But there are elements of human truths alongside the comedy and light heartedness. As the respected critic Herbert Kretzmer noted: "Mr. Simon's genius has been not only to write some of the funniest one-line gags now being spoken on the English-speaking stage, but to suggest also something of the pain, aspiration and panic behind all those flip phrases."
The original cast included Robert Redford as Paul Bratter, Elizabeth Ashley as Corie Bratter, Mildred Natwick as Corie's mother, Ethel, and Kurt Kasznar as the Bratter's eccentric upstairs neighbor, Victor. Nichols won a Tony award for Best Director and Neil Simon was nominated for Best Director, Elizabeth Ashley for Best Actress and the producer, Saint Subber, for Best Producer of a Play. In 1967, Paramount Productions made Barefoot in the Park into a popular movie starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda and produced by Gene Sacks.
The action in the play takes place in a small, quirky 5th floor walk up Greenwich Village apartment as we follow newlyweds Paul and Corie Bratter during the first weeks of their marriage while they contend with a malfunctioning heater, a hole in the roof, and an upstairs neighbor who must go through their flat to reach his apartment.
Paul is a buttoned-down young man focused on becoming a successful lawyer while Corie is outgoing and romantic. Throw in Corie's meddling mother, Edith, who Corie tries to set up with Victor and a hilarious sequence of misunderstandings that test the boundaries of their love, and you've got the perfect recipe for an evening of laughter.
All performances will take place at the Benefit Payers Theatre on the corner of Guard and Taylor in Friday Harbor. Click here for a map and directions. As always, admision is by donation. Proceeds from some performances will be used for the general operating expenses of the Benefit Players, while other performances will be used to raise funds for individuals with specific needs.
This page was last modified on April 29, 2008 |
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