Anne Paine West, Bernie Engel and Erblin Nushi rehearse for Little Theatre of Alexandria’s production of “Plaza Suite.” Photo Contributed
The Little Theatre of Alexandria is staging the Neil Simon slapstick comedy, “Plaza Suite,” June 14-July 5. The play about love and marriage is composed of three acts starring different couples and set in Suite 719 of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. It was made into a 1971 film starring Walter Matthau, Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris and Lee Grant. Mike Nichols won the Tony award in 1968 for best direction of a play that featured George C. Scott and Stapleton on Broadway.
“Plaza Suite” Director Shawn g. Byers’s first goal was to bring the words on the page to life. “One of the things that Neil Simon is so wonderful at is showing the comedy in our human foibles,” he said.
He added, “I have learned while working on this play to look at my own foibles and stressful situations and see the humor that lies within. So maybe, just maybe one or two audience members will see themselves in Karen, Roy, or Muriel — and take just a moment to laugh the next time they are faced with adversity.”
Jack Stein plays the role of Sam Nash, who can’t accept the inevitability of growing older. “He seeks ways to remain young at the risk of losing the very person [his wife] who knows him better than he knows himself,” he said.
His biggest challenge has been figuring out how to show the inner softness of Sam’s somewhat gruff exterior. “To do so, I tapped into some of my own personal experiences and those of people I know,” said Stein, who performed in another version of the play many years ago in a different role.
Amy Solo is playing the role of Karen Nash, a woman married to the love of her life who finds herself in danger of losing everything she holds most dear. “Feeling the ground beneath her shake a bit, she engineers an opportunity to rekindle the romance of her marriage,” she said. But things do not go as planned, and Karen is not going to go down without a fight.
She said her relationship with Sam has an interesting love language that on its face could be read as bickering, but there is a lot of affection there. “On its face, this scene could be read as a fight but it really is a dance,” she said.
“For the chapter on the Nashes from Mamaroneck, the reminder that love is a choice, a daily choice, in every long-term relationship, is what I hope everyone walks away with,” she said.
Shelagh Roberts plays Muriel Tate, a “typical” suburban housewife in an unhappy marriage in 1968, who seems prim and proper at first, but as vodka stingers are consumed and the layers are peeled off, more emerges.
“Lucky for us, Neil Simon has ensured that Muriel and [her husband] Jesse challenge each other, and he gives us many shifts in the relationship throughout the scene, as well as transition points where the characters reveal some of who they really are,” she said.
With co-star Richard Isaacs, they’re locked in an intense game of cat and mouse for half an hour. “It’s up to us to keep it moving and vary the levels so there is movement and energy in the scene,” she said. “It’s like one long acting-class scene every time we go up there. We have a lot of fun keeping the other one guessing.”
She added, “All of these characters are very relevant and relatable today. People like to think we have evolved to some master modern sensibility where there is perfect equality or respect in relationships, and I just don’t think it’s true.”
Isaacs plays the role of Jesse Kiplinger, a famous Hollywood producer reuniting with his high school sweetheart after 17 years. “He's a little full of himself and is sure he can seduce her with his constant declaration that she is the only decent, un-phony, uncorrupt woman left in the world,” he said.
“‘Plaza Suite’ is one of those plays where audiences can really just sit back, relax, and enjoy more than a few good laughs,” he said. “When the audience leaves this show, I really think they'll be walking away with a smile that just won't stop.”
Anne Paine West plays the role of Norma Hubley, a frustrated and insecure wife and mother. “Norma struggles to present her imperfect family as perfect,” she said. “Act III emphasizes the importance of a loving marriage for a family, and Norma and Roy's foibles and absurdities make for painful but wonderful comedy.”
She said, “Everyone can easily identify with and feel compassion for the Hubley family.”
She hopes audiences will take away what Neil Simon wrote: "How sad and funny life is. This is a tradition of Jewish humor ... seeing humor as a healing, life-giving force."
Bernie Engel plays Roy Hubley, a brash and assertive man who’s really a pussycat on the inside. “He threatens to kill his daughter, but in reality wouldn’t harm a hair on her head,” he said.
He added, “With all the yelling Roy does, it was a challenge not to lose my voice.”
Producer Jennifer Lyman said, “I chose to produce this show because I have worked with Shawn G. Byers a couple of times — with us in different roles — and when I learned that he was directing ‘Plaza Suite,’ I jumped at the chance to produce for him.”
She also said, “I hope the audience has a good time laughing at all the wonderful humor that Neil Simon has infused into ‘Plaza Suite,’ and that on their way home they say, ‘What a great evening!’”
Co-producer Jamie Blake said, “All three acts are different and fun in their own way. The key is choosing the right actors, and our director has done that.”
“Plaza Suite” runs June 14-July 5 at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St. Showtimes are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinee at 3 p.m. Tickets are $17 to $20 (plus service fees). Call the box office at 703-683-0496 or visit www.thelittletheatre.com.