Nathan Lane gives a reprise of his Broadway performance as Max Prince in Laughter on the 23rd Floor with Mark Feuerstein as Lucas. Rosemary Harris is Grandma to Julie Kavner�s Bella in Lost in Yonkers.
Meanwhile, Bebe Neuwirth and Jean Smart are giving a female spin to The Odd Couple as Florence and Olive, respectively. The fiery Castillians are Bronson Pinchot as Jesus and Hank Azaria as Manolo. 2000 Tony Award winner for Best Actress Jennifer Ehle appears in The Good Doctor. Robert Sean Leonard joins Robert Klein, Mary Louise Wilson and Calista Flockhart in Fools. Then Leonard takes on Biloxi Blues with Feuerstein, Roger Bart and Christine Ebersole.
Is there a connection? Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS is holding another starry benefit evening, this time as a salute to prolific playwright Neil Simon, author of The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Lost in Yonkers, Brighton Beach Memoirs and the new Hotel Suite.
"The Playwrights' the Thing II: Neil Simon at the Neil Simon" takes place Monday, June 26 at the Neil Simon Theatre, 250 West 52nd Street. Walter Bobbie (Footloose and Chicago) is the director who will shape the evening's performances.
"Casting this kind of an event is always a thrill,� Bobbie told Theatre.com. �It's an absolutely unique opportunity to see this many talented people in the same room at the same time. To work with this range and density of talent is a thrill and a privilege. I've always been a great fan of Neil Simon, so to sit in his apartment with a pencil watching him do edits on the spot provides a real insight into the breadth of his talent and how nimble he remains at his craft."
Added Kevin Duncan, a producer of the event: "I love the idea of presenting this as 'Neil Simon at the Neil Simon.' What better way to pay tribute to a man than to hold it in the theatre that bears his name. So this will be an evening dedicated to him and his works."
Bobbie told Theatre.com that one of the more felicitous moments theatergoers can expect during the staged performances is a scene from Chapter II where John Ritter�s George Schneider gives Calista Flockhart�s Jenny Malone a call from Washington, D.C.
�The scene is an actual telephone conversation,� Bobbie said, �so it is funny that they will be rehearsing it in a conference call: Calista from NY and John from Washington D.C. where he is doing Neil Simon's new play The Dinner Party."
Simon himself chose all of the scenes that are to be presented in the benefit. �In fact, Neil did special edits for this event so that each of the scenes could stand on their own,� Bobbie added.
�The effort in putting such a disparate set of scenes together into an evening of theatre is a difficult task," Bobbie continued. "We had 3x5 cards on the wall downstairs and have been rearranging them all week. There is no set. We are on stage at the Neil Simon Theatre where The Music Man plays eight shows a week. We will be reading at music stands. Ultimately the task is to put together a narrative arc in the absence of a dramatic through-line. In addition to this (which is repeated in the answer above) Mr. Simon will also make remarks at the end of the evening.�
This Neil Simon tribute follows last year�s BC/EFA tribute to Christopher Durang, Terrence McNally and Wendy Wasserstein. That event raised more than $250,000.
"What people see in a two hour benefit is the result of weeks of preparation, from the selection of the materials to the casting, to all of the people who work behind the scenes to create an evening like this," said Kevin Duncan, who produced the Betty Buckley in concert at Carnegie Hall in 1996 and a Sweet Charity benefit in 1998.
"The response from the community last year was overwhelming," Duncan added. "People were so responsive to an event that celebrated the spoken word; it was a first of its kind. Once we presented playwrights last year, the other opportunities to continue and expand on this idea just seemed to start popping up."
A pre-performance coctail reception takes place at 5:30 PM. After the performance, participants and their guests will dine at Dish of Salt, 133 West 47th Street.
Simon is currently back on the boards with Hotel Suite starring Helen Carey, Leigh Lawson, Ron Orbach and Randy Graff. It opened Off-Broadway June 15 at the Gramercy Arts Theatre. Produced by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Hotel Suite is a collection of Neil Simon�s favorite one-acts from his previous Suite plays: Plaza Suite, California Suite and London Suite.
Here is a complete rundown of the cast and order of the BC/EFA Neil Simon Benefit as of June 22, 2000
ACT I
THE GOOD DOCTOR
Nina -- Jennifer Ehle
The Voice -- Leigh Lawson
GOD'S FAVORITE
Joe Benjamin, Mark Blum,
Sidney Lipton, Nathan Lane
PRISONER OF SECOND
AVENUE
Mel Edison -- Robert Klein
Edna Edison -- Marsha
Mason
PROPOSALS
Clemma -- Lynne Thigpen
Lewis -- Roc Dutton
CHAPTER II
George Schneider--John
Ritter
Jenny Malone --Calista
Flockhart
FOOLS
Dr. Zubretsky-- Robert
Klein
Lenya -- Mary Louise
Wilson
Leon -- Robert Sean
Leonard
Sophia -- Calista Flockhart
FEMALE ODD COUPLE
Florence --Bebe Neuwirth
Olive -- Jean Smart
Jesus -- Bronson Pinchot
Manolo -- Hank Azaria
ACT II
LAST OF THE RED HOT
LOVERS
Barney -- Eugene Levy
Jeanette -- Julie Kavner
I OUGHTA BE IN PICTURES
Herb -- Ron Rifkin
Libby -- Natasha Lyonne
LOST IN YONKERS
Aunt Bella -- Julie Kavner
Grandma -- Rosemary
Harris
PLAZA SUITE
Jesse
Kiplinger -- Tony Roberts
Muriel Tate -- Debra Monk
BILOXI BLUES
Eugene --
Robert Sean Leonard
Selridge -- Mark Feuerstein
Carney -- Roger Bart
Rowena -- Christine
Ebersole
LAUGHTER ON THE 23RD
FLOOR
Max Prince-- Nathan Lane
Milt -- Robert Klein
Brian -- John Ritter
Carol-- Bebe Neuwirth
Kenny -- Hank Azaria
Val -- Eugene Levy
Lucas -- Mark Feuerstein
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