Simon Ungagged

Early word wasn't encouraging, so there's no reason to be surprised by Ben Brantley's pan of Promises, Promises in the Times. When the original opened in 1968, there was no question it was a modern Broadway show--Neil Simon book, Burt Bacharach score, based on a Billy Wilder film. And nothing dates faster than modern.

Today, love it or hate it, Bacharach's music screams 1960s (even though nothing else in the 60s sounded like it). I wonder, though, has Neil Simon become dated? I don't deny his plays have references--the cost of a Manhattan apartment, for instance--which once could be assumed but now shock you back to a different time. Still, the guy is the most performed living playwright. His stuff works well in theatres around the world. But is his time over? Is Broadway the vanguard, letting us know it won't be long before we don't even see him in community theatre, or is it simply Manhattan snobbery, trying to impress us by not being impressed?

Simon was the biggest thing to ever hit Broadway. It's almost impossible to overstate his success. Flops, even from successful playwrights, are the norm. But Simon, for 30 years, turned out one hit after another.

After an apprenticeship in TV, he was able to make a transition to the stage (at a time when it was considered a step up). It took him years, but he finally got a production of his first full-length play, Come Blow Your Horn, on the Great White Way in 1961, where it managed a run of 677 peformances. He also wrote a very funny book for the musical Little Me, which at 257 performances wasn't exactly a hit, but was a respectable run.

Then, in 1963, came Barefoot In The Park, a simple comedy about a newlywed couple--still his longest run at 1530 performances. This in an age when 500 performances was considered a solid hit. Even the harshest critics called it a delight. This was followed by The Odd Couple, another iconic comedy, another long run. Both became big movies, too. Other Broadway hits in the 60s were Plaza Suite and The Last Of The Red Hot Lovers, as well as the books for Sweet Charity and Promises, Promises.

He continued full steam into the 70s with The Prisoner Of Second Avenue, The Sunshine Boys and Chapter Two, not to mention his book for They're Playing Our Song. I'm not saying all his plays were hits, but even the "flops" tended to run for half a year, and would then be performed in community theatres across the world. In addition to his yearly Broadway appearances, he also wrote film scripts--adaptations of his stage work as well as original screenplays such as The Goodbye Girl and Murder By Death.

Then in the early 80s, he struck a new vein, writing about his early days in the "Brighton Beach" trilogy--Brighton Beach Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound, all hits. This was followed in 1991 by Lost In Yonkers, another look back, but this time darker. Thirty years after his first Broadway opening, he won a Pulitzer Prize.

However, Yonkers was his last major hit. He still regularly turned out the plays, but the runs, and the reviews, weren't the same--Jake's Women (245 performances), Laughter On The 23rd Floor (320 performances), Proposals (77 performances), The Dinner Party (364 performances), 45 Seconds From Broadway (73 performances). It was the 21st century, and Neil Simon was no longer a sure thing. Was it time for a reappraisal?

In the past few years, there have been Broadway revivals of Simon's biggest hits. A 2006 production of Barefoot In The Park got nasty reviews and closed after 109 performances. Last year, a company was planning to perform both Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound (which share many characters). The Brighton Beach production, however, after getting a lukewarm review in the Times, couldn't sustain an audience and the producers closed it down, never even opening the second play.

And now we have Promises, Promises. Simon's third and last chance? Based on the Times' notice, the prognosis isn't good. We'll see if the star power of Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes keep it running? I'd guess only if the show still entertains.

I think Simon is one of the greatest comedy writers of the past half century. At his best, he manages a sustained level of humor that no one else can match, and does it with characters that are a delight. But who knows who'll live on? Imagine you're a London theatregoer around a century ago. Would you place your money on Oscar Wilde and George Bernard Shaw, or the more popular Arthur Wing Pinero and Henry Arthur Jones? So, even though I love Simon, and think he deserves to live on, no one can say if he'll still be around in 2100. However, the good news is the plays still matter--what I know will be forgotten are the reviews in the Times.