Two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and two-time Emmy Award winner Sarah Jessica Parker will return to Broadway in the first-ever New York revival of Neil Simon's classic comedy about marriage, Plaza Suite, in a production by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey.
Plaza Suite will mark the first time Broderick and Parker will share a Broadway stage since the 1995 revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. This event will also mark Broderick's return to the words of Neil Simon, having won his first Tony Award for creating the role of Eugene Jerome in Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, followed by its sequel, Biloxi Blues.
Two world-class actors play three hilarious couples in this uproarious and piercing look at love and marriage from legendary playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner Neil Simon. This new production will mark the first revival of a Neil Simon play following his passing last August at the age of 91. He is remembered as one of the most celebrated, successful and beloved writers in Broadway history having written more than 30 plays and musicals.
The first thing you see when the curtain goes up on 'Plaza Suite' is an aquatint image of that grand hotel in its antique glory. But when it comes to datedness, the faux-French pile that opened its doors in 1907 has nothing on the Neil Simon comedy - itself a faux-French pile - that debuted on Broadway in 1968. Despite the wearying efforts of a likable cast headed by Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker, the passage of 54 years is more than enough to reveal the triptych of one-act plays as uninhabitable in 2022.
Alas, the stars' efforts, while certainly appealing, don't make the material any less obsolete, a throwback to the bougie boulevard comedies that were once a Broadway staple. The observations on marriage and relationships occasionally generate a chuckle, but more often seem stale and the sexual politics retrograde, something that John Benjamin Hickey's serviceable direction can't disguise. The laughs mostly spring from watching a real-life showbiz couple kick back and have fun bouncing off each other. Judging by the hearty response at a recent press night, for many that might be reward enough.
1968 | Broadway |
Broadway |
2022 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
2024 | West End |
London Production West End |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2022 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Awards | Sarah Jessica Parker |
2022 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Jane Greenwood |
2022 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Jane Greenwood |
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