Neil Simon's LONDON SUITE Begins Performances This Month at Gateway Playhouse
Neil Simon's comedy classic is the first of Gateway's three-show Community Spotlight Series, with tickets at $15.
Gateway Playhouse will present Neil Simon's London Suite for three performances July 11 and 12 as the inaugural production in the theater's new Community Spotlight Series.
Directed by Ryan Daly, with Janelle Hawkes serving as assistant director, London Suite is the first of three plays in the series, which complements Gateway's first-ever all-musical MainStage Season with intimate, scaled-down theatrical productions.
The comedy consists of four one-act plays, all set in the same London hotel suite, each chronicling the comic misadventures of a different group of guests. From romantic entanglements and family conflicts to mistaken identities and second chances, the play showcases Simon's signature wit and character-driven humor.
"I have a real appreciation for his work. He has a great ear for dialogue," Daly said. "For an actor, his dialogue is easy to learn and his characters are highly relatable, not cartoonish."
One of Neil Simon's three "Suite" plays—alongside Plaza Suite and California Suite—London Suite features the stories "Settling Accounts," "Going Home," "The Man on the Floor," and "Diana and Sidney." Daly describes London Suite as the funniest of the trilogy.
The production features a cast that includes Gateway favorites Joe Chialastri, Andrew Czekalski, and Victoria Biron, alongside newcomers Jacob Van Tine, Ginger Liberatore, and Maria Black. To expand opportunities for performers, Daly also created additional hotel staff characters, including chambermaids, to help facilitate scene transitions.
Performance Information
London Suite will be performed at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, July 11, and Sunday, July 12, with an additional 1:00 p.m. matinee on Sunday, July 12. Performances take place at Gateway Playhouse, 738 Bay Avenue, Somers Point, New Jersey.
Tickets for all Community Spotlight Series performances are $15 and are available online and through the Karen S. Sutherland Box Office, which is open Wednesdays through Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
About Gateway Playhouse
Since reopening in 2017, Gateway Playhouse has served South Jersey as a nonprofit professional theater producing year-round entertainment, educational programming, and community events. In addition to its MainStage productions, the theater presents comedy, cabaret, and special events while providing arts education opportunities for students throughout the region.
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