Hello 1969

Walk into Broadway's Hudson Theater any time before July 10 and that's what you can say.

Hello 1969.

You are time traveled back to a Broadway of yesteryear.   When folks waited for that season's new comedy from Neil Simon.   And wondering what star power would be behind the production.

I wanted to feel a little of that nostalgia so I went to see the "new" production of the late Neil Simon's relic from the late 60s.   With the star power provided by everybody's favorite married couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.  The show is still set unabashedly in another era and that is a good thing as this production embraces all that is good about a night out at the theater.

I'm always a sucker for Simon even if some of his comedies are lavish productions of sitcom fare.   Indeed, these "hotel" works of his are really more lavish episodes of "Love American Style."  And that's not always a bad thing.  Especially when you have SJP and Broderick leading you to the laughs.

"Plaza Suite" is essentially three elongated sketches of varying degrees of laughter.   The first is the most serious of the comedies as a housewife comes to the realization that her husband is having an affair with his secretary.   The second is all about a Hollywood producer looking to seduce some girl he went to New Jersey high school with.  Peppered with references to Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow and an uneasy look at a Harvey Weinstein-like predator, this sketch is the most dated despite the laughs.

But whenever you see "Plaza Suite," the price of admission is rewarded by the third episode where an older married couple tries to get their bride-daughter to come out of the locked bathroom and get married.   The timing and the slapstick and the mayhem are non-stop and worthy of the great Broadway farces.   Again, as it probably did in 1969, the third story did not disappoint.

And neither did the stars.   Indeed, Matthew Broderick's performance slowly evolved over the evening.  He was weakest in the first, a little better in the second, and showstopping as the chagrined father in the third.  But even at his more mediocre moments, Broderick commanded your attention.

But, truly, his wonderful wife was a revelation throughout all three adventures.  SJP has an amazing stage presence with Lucille Ball-like moments that captivated me all night.  

Neil Simon would have been proud.   And the audience in 2022, as they were in 1969, were rewarded with a vintage night at the theater.

Dinner last night: Bacon caesar salad.