Lost in Yonkers, Revised With the Permission of Neil Simon, Begins NYC Run; Cynthia Harris Stars
Lost in Yonkers
Playbill
Kenneth Jones
March 13 2012
Cynthia Harris is the imperious immigrant grandmother in The Actors Company Theatre/TACT revival of Neil Simon's Pulitzer Prize-winning Lost In Yonkers, beginning March 13 at Off-Broadway's Beckett Theatre. Simon has given the respected company permission to explore a revision in the text. Opening night is March 22.
TACT co-artistic director Jenn Thompson (The Eccentricities of a Nightingale, The Memorandum, The Late Christopher Bean) directs the first New York City revival of Simon's play about young brothers who are dropped off at their steely grandmother's home to witness the tension between Grandma and their yearning Aunt Bella (played by Finnerty Steeves, of Broadway's recent Brighton Beach Memoirs, Off-Broadway's Almost Maine). The 1991 play also won Simon the Tony Award for Best Play.
TACT is "dedicated to presenting neglected or rarely produced plays of literary merit."
Director Thompson said in statement, "We loved Lost in Yonkers, particularly its heart and its courage to explore some very painful places. We were interested to see what would happen if we were to heighten that core. The intimacy of our home at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row allows us to examine the play in a subtler way than in a Broadway theatre, so we wondered how it would unfold if we were to remove the voice-over transitions that, as written, occur several times throughout the play.
"To explore and test this idea, the cast read through the script without the transitions to hear how it would influence the story. What we discovered was eye-opening: Without them, the play picked up a palpable momentum that allows us to keep focused on the young boys' bereavement and the collision course between Grandma Kurnitz and Bella. It all seems much more immediate and exposed. We were thrilled when we received consent from Mr. Simon to present the play in this way. We're so excited to be bringing this important work - by an American master - to our New York audiences in this more intimate and streamlined way."
In addition to TACT co-artistic director and company member Harris ("Mad About You," Bedroom Farce, The Cocktail Party), The Lost in Yonkers cast includes guest artists Alec Beard (Broadway's Tartuffe), Dominic Comperatore (Broadway's A View From the Bridge), Stephanie Cozart (Portland Stage's recent The Syringa Tree), Matthew Gumley (Broadway's Elf, The Addams Family, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast) and Russell Posner (New York stage debut).
The creative team includes John McDermott (sets), David Toser (costumes), Martin E. Vreeland (lights), Toby Algya (sound) and Lauren Madden (properties). Jack Gianino is production stage manager.
The original production of Lost in Yonkers played 780 performances at Broadway's Richard Rodgers Theatre. Gene Saks directed Irene Worth, Mercedes Ruehl and Kevin Spacey (all of them won Tony Awards for their performances). Simon wrote the later screenplay for the 1993 film directed by Martha Coolidge, starring Richard Dreyfus with Worth and Ruehl repeating their roles.