No Intermissions

The ever prolific Neil Simon talks about his new memoir,
his new play and the state of the theater today.

The Play Goes On

ALICE BURDICK SCHWEIGER
Special to the Jewish News

N

eil Simon, considered by
many to be the greatest
American comedic play-
wright of all time, is show-
ing no signs of slowing down. At 72,
Simon, who has penned more than 30
plays and two dozen screenplays, just
this week opened a new play, The
Dinner Party, in Los Angeles. This fall
also saw the publication of his second
memoir, The Play Goes On (Simon &
Shuster; $27), the sequel to 1996's
Rewrites.
Simon begins his second book with
the death from cancer of his beloved

Alice Schweiger is a New York-based
freelance writer.

first wife, Joan. Overcome with grief,
he has to keep himself together for the
sake of his two young daughters,
Nancy and Ellen.
Before long, he meets and marries
actress Marsha Mason, and rediscovers
happiness. But nine years later he finds
himself divorced and in a career slump.
It is the huge success of his autobi-
ographical trilogy — Brighton Beach
Memoirs, Biloxi Blues and Broadway
Bound — that catapults him back into
the limelight. But marriage to third
wife Diane Lander, whom he weds
and divorces twice, complicates his
personal life.
Throughout The Play Goes On,
Simon notes his emotional turmoil with
humor, and gives insights into the com-
plicated, talented man behind the pen.
For Simon, art imitates life, and traces

Neil Simon: "I said in my
previous book "Rewrites"
that I don't know how to
stop writing. I think now I
actually do know how to
stop, but the thing is I don't
choose to. It an old friend,
and it continues to travel
with me wherever I go."

of his own life are found in his work. His
wife Joan was the inspiration for the
character Corie Bratter in Barefoot in the
Park, and Chapter Two is about finding
romance after losing a spouse.
Indeed, Simon's whole life story
would make for a riveting play. Born
Marvin Neil Simon in the Bronx, he
was raised in New York City with
his brother, Danny. Simon's father, a
garment salesman, left the family
when Neil was a just a teenager, and
the family had to move in with rela-
tives (inspiring the play Brighton
Beach Memoirs). After high school,
Simon joined the Army and was sent
to Mississippi, where he bore the
brunt of anti-Semitism (a story told
in Biloxi Blues).
Following the military, Simon
returned to New York and landed a

job in the mailroom at Warner
Brothers' East Coast office. Before
long he was writing comedy revues
with his brother, Danny; he soon
moved into radio, then television.
Simon's big break came when he
was hired to join the creative writing
team for Sid Caesar's Your Show of
Shows, working alongside Mel Brooks,
Woody Allen, Carl Reiner and Larry
Gelbart (his experiences prompted
Laughter on the 23rd Floor).
But with a passion for playwriting,
Simon left TV to try his luck in the
theater. His first play, Come Blow Your
Horn, made it to the Broadway stage in
1961. Since then, Simon has churned
out one hit after another for the stage
and screen, earning himself countless
awards, including Tonys for The Odd
Couple and Lost in Yonkers, for which