Two New Neil Simon Plays Receive Workshops; Sunshine Boys Sequel in Works

By: Jan. 20, 2006
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According to The New York Post's Michael Riedel, three new Neil Simon plays are in preparation.

The Tony Award-winning playwright, who is currently represented on Broadway by the smash revival of The Odd Couple and the new revival of Barefoot in the Park starring Patrick Wilson and Amanda Peet, has penned 202 and 204 as well as Rewrites, a play based on his memoirs of the same name. He is also working on a sequel to The Sunshine Boys, his hit about the rocky reunion of two aged vaudevillians, according to Riedel.

Robert Klein (The Sisters Rosensweig, They're Playing Our Song) and Academy Award-winner Marcia Gay Harden (films like Pollock, Angels in America on Broadway) headlined an industry reading of 202 and 204 last week. "...The play is a serious comedy about a man who, after experiencing a traumatic incident in his life, checks into an institution and strikes up a relationship with a woman in the next room," writes Riedel.

Matthew Broderick, who starred in Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs (for which he won a Tony) and Biloxi Blues, is set to headline a reading of Rewrites today, as well. Broderick will play Simon in the reading. Rewrites, which covers Simon's youth, first marriage and encounters with show biz luminaries, among other subjects, will be presented at the Seattle Rep during their 2006-2007 season.

Simon is a prolific three-time Tony Award-winner whose other plays include The Dinner Party, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Lost in Yonkers, Rumors, Broadway Bound (which capped off his autobiographical trilogy that also included Brighton Beach Memoirs and Biloxi Blues), Chapter Two, California Suite, Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers and The Star-Spangled Girl. He has penned the books for musicals such as Sweet Charity, Little Me, They're Playing Our Song and The Goodbye Girl, which was based on his hit film.
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