Laughter on the 23rd Floor—HART Theatre—Hillsboro, OR

 

The Endorphin Squad

    This live production of the comedy by the famous Broadway writer, Neil Simon, is directed by Meghan Daaboul.  It is playing at their space near downtown Hillsboro, 185 SE Washington, through May 22^nd.  For more information, go to their website at www.hart-theatre.org or call 503-693-7815.

    Ah, the good ole days of the 50’s.  Peace, once again, except, of course, for the Cold War with Russia, and the Korean Conflict.  Yes, prosperity loomed just around the corner, unless, of course, you were a subject of one of Joe McCarthy’s investigations of “Commies” and ended up on the Black List.  But the saving grace through it all was television, and its comedy/variety shows, like the classic, Sid Caesar and his, Your Show of Shows.

    Many of the present-day comedians, directors, producers and actors wrote for this show, including “Doc” Simon.  Some names that come to mind are Woody Allen, Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Dick Cavett, Howard Morris, Imogene Coca and a plethora of others.  All in all, although it may not have been “the best of times,” it did produce some the best of talent!

    The plot centers around a gaggle of TV comedy writers on one of the upper floors of a high-rise building in the mid-50’sin New York City.  There is the star of the show, the eccentric, Max Prince (Bobby Jackson), who genuinely loves the biz but is thwarted at every turn by corporate (executives (nothing much has changed in that regard nowadays).

    And among his “mad” team (“everybody must have a little madness to discover one’s true passion”), is the head writer, a Russian Jew, Val (Jeff Brosy), who tries to be the peacekeeper (without much success) of this motley crew.  And then there is Milt (Steven Koeppen), the beret king, who likes to be set apart from the group; Brian (Seth Wayne), who’s an aspiring screenwriter; Kenny (Jeff Ekdahl), the apple-cheeked kid, and Ira (Michael Rouches), the hypochondriac.

    Add to this mix the only female writer of the bunch, Carol (Erin Bickler), who just wants to be “one of the guys;” Helen (Deb Holmes, Max’s secretary, who wishes to be a writer herself; and the newbie, Lucas (Brandon B. Weaver), who is the storyteller (perhaps, Simon, himself?).  As is said, everyone has his/her own story and such is the case here, but for an audience to discover when watching the play.

    Daaboul has assembled a fine ensemble cast and they play beautifully off each other.  A tricky thing for a director, when doing this sort of show, is the motivated blocking (as in Twelve Angry Men), where the center piece are the writer’s tables, and to move the actors around in a meaningful way is no easy task but she pulls it off, so kudos to her!

I recommend this show.  If you do see it, please tell them Dennis sent you.

--DJS