BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS centers on young Jewish teen Eugene Morris Jerome and his extended family living in a crowded home in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn in 1937: his overworked father, Jack; overbearing mother, Kate; his older brother Stanley; Kate's widowed sister Blanche and her daughters, Nora and Laurie. As Eugene spends his time daydreaming about a baseball career, he must also cope with his family's troubles, his awkward discovery of the opposite sex and his developing identity as a writer. 

David Rooney, Variety: "Hats off to the farsighted producers of "The Neil Simon Plays" for taking a risk on their choice of director. While David Cromer's most recent New York hits, "Adding Machine" and "Our Town," mined piercing depths in timeworn texts, they did so in an austere presentational style that seemed a million miles from the warm-hearted humor of "Brighton Beach Memoirs." The first installment of a Simon double that continues with "Broadway Bound," opening Dec. 10, the revival strikes an exquisite balance between comedy and pathos, its impeccable ensemble landing every laugh while exploring every emotional nuance to build a tremendously moving portrait of family life."

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "In trying to subvert the cliché of the screaming Jewish family dinner, Mr. Cromer hasn't come up with an alternative connective sensibility. I was often aware of a host of individual performances - some of them very artful - that didn't necessarily link into the others. And there were times I felt an intellectual distance between the performers and their roles."

Elisabeth Vincentelli, NY Post: "THE only way "Brighton Beach Memoirs" could be any cozier is if we watched it in pajamas while sip ping an egg cream. Like a cruise ship returning to port, Neil Simon's 1983 hit sailed back to Broadway last night, bathed in a mellow glow. The quarter-century that's elapsed since the original opening has added even more soft-lit nostalgia to a play drenched in it."

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "You could call "Brighton Beach" a comedy-drama, a play peppered with amusing, often jokey dialogue alternating with poignant moments of personal confrontation and reconciliation. Yet the disconnect is not as disruptive as it could be thanks to David Cromer's smooth, seamless direction and an accomplished cast."

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: ""Brighton," which opened Sunday night ("Bound" will follow in a few weeks), won't fully satisfy the director's fans in that he has imposed no new spin on Simon's nostalgic comedy drama. But the production does illustrate his particular talent for getting to the emotional heart of whatever he tackles."

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "Under any circumstances, then, a revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Simon's portrait of a thoroughly endearing Jewish family in late 1930s Brooklyn, would be a welcome diversion. But the new production (* * *½ out of four) that opened Sunday at the Nederlander Theatre is a lot more than that."

Robert Feldberg, Bergen Record: "The play's comedy is mostly typical Simon one-liners, but in the initial production, it served as a counterbalance that prevented the second act from descending into a series of tear-jerking moments. Here, the comic element is weaker, exposing the dramatic flaws in a play that was once hailed for its seriousness, the "maturing" of a funnyman playwright."

Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune: "In his distinguished and, frankly, very moving Broadway directing debut, David Cromer mostly does what he has been doing for years in little theaters all over Chicago. He tackles a tired, second-tier play - Neil Simon's autobiographical "Brighton Beach Memoirs" - that has become clouded with contrivances, cliches and the stamps of star actors, and, in this particular case, expectations over the efficient deliveries of iconic one-liners."

John Simon, Bloomberg: "Neil Simon's supposedly autobiographical comedy, "Brighton Beach Memoirs," now revived as the first of two related shows dubbed "The Neil Simon Plays," is fundamentally feel-good stuff and, as such, intellectually suspect. Yet it is cleverly enough contrived -- jokes abound -- to prove for a hefty majority pleasantly relaxing fare."

Joe Dziemianowicz, NY Daily News: Neil Simon's "Brighton Beach Memoirs" is back on Broadway 26 years after its original run in a production that's warm and funny (which was expected) and uninspired (which wasn't). Surprising, since it's staged by David Cromer, a director known for reshaping material, like his much-admired "Our Town" Off-Broadway. But this is a revival of a memory play that's not all that memorable."

Stephanie Zacharek, NY Magazine: "This revival, directed by David Cromer (Our Town), clearly tries to ease up on some of the play's aggressive broadness while preserving its raucous, slightly crude spirit. But that broadness, like a persistent jack-in-the-box, can't be tamped down for long, and the result is a wearying evening of squeezed-out laughs. Simon's alter ego, the hormonally charged 15-year-old Eugene Morris Jerome, isn't the hero of the play-he's the tummler, working overtime to coax a response from the audience. The actor who portrays him here, a newcomer named Noah Robbins, fulfills Simon's intent to the letter. He's playing to the house pretty hard, especially during the extensive narration."

Linda Winer, Newsday: ""Brighton Beach Memoirs" is not as good as it was in 1983. It is even better. Neil Simon's coming-of-age autobiographical comedy is not as heartwarming as it was when the hit starred young Matthew Broderick and ran three years. It's now also a heartbreaker."

Erik Haagensen, Backstage: ""Memoirs" was a breakthrough for Simon. His characters became richer, and he doesn't flinch from moments of depression, anger, resentment, and even rage. He relies less on one-liners, generally confining them appropriately to smart-aleck Eugene narration. Nevertheless, he falters in the second act by tying everything up to neatly and happily. While that keeps the play from greatness, nothing is likely to keep the audience from having a great time at this revival."

Thom Geier, Entertainment Weekly: "Laughs are, after all, Simon's stock and trade. There are plenty of them in this fine revival, easily the best show of a young Broadway season. A lot of things may have changed in the last quarter century, but this show's punchlines still work. A-"

Posted on: Sunday, October 25, 2009 @ 09:22 PM Posted by: Robert Diamond