Broadway Blog - Brighton Beach Memoirs

BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS centers on young Jewish teen Eugene Morris Jerome and his extended family living in a crowded home in the Brighton Beach section of Brooklyn in 1937: his overworked father, Jack; overbearing mother, Kate; his older brother Stanley; Kate's widowed sister Blanche and her daughters, Nora and Laurie. As Eugene spends his time daydreaming about a baseball career, he must also cope with his family's troubles, his awkward discovery of the opposite sex and his developing identity as a writer. 

David Rooney, Variety: "Hats off to the farsighted producers of "The Neil Simon Plays" for taking a risk on their choice of director. While David Cromer's most recent New York hits, "Adding Machine" and "Our Town," mined piercing depths in timeworn texts, they did so in an austere presentational style that seemed a million miles from the warm-hearted humor of "Brighton Beach Memoirs." The first installment of a Simon double that continues with "Broadway Bound," opening Dec. 10, the revival strikes an exquisite balance between comedy and pathos, its impeccable ensemble landing every laugh while exploring every emotional nuance to build a tremendously moving portrait of family life."

Ben Brantley, The New York Times: "In trying to subvert the cliché of the screaming Jewish family dinner, Mr. Cromer hasn't come up with an alternative connective sensibility. I was often aware of a host of individual performances - some of them very artful - that didn't necessarily link into the others. And there were times I felt an intellectual distance between the performers and their roles."

Michael Kuchwara, Associated Press: "You could call "Brighton Beach" a comedy-drama, a play peppered with amusing, often jokey dialogue alternating with poignant moments of personal confrontation and reconciliation. Yet the disconnect is not as disruptive as it could be thanks to David Cromer's smooth, seamless direction and an accomplished cast."

Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter: ""Brighton," which opened Sunday night ("Bound" will follow in a few weeks), won't fully satisfy the director's fans in that he has imposed no new spin on Simon's nostalgic comedy drama. But the production does illustrate his particular talent for getting to the emotional heart of whatever he tackles."

Elysa Gardner, USA Today: "Under any circumstances, then, a revival of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Simon's portrait of a thoroughly endearing Jewish family in late 1930s Brooklyn, would be a welcome diversion. But the new production (* * *½ out of four) that opened Sunday at the Nederlander Theatre is a lot more than that."

More Reviews to Come...