Wasatch to open Neil Simon's Prisoner Of Second Avenue at GTC Burbank
After their critically acclaimed production of All My Sons, Wasatch Theatrical Ventures is proud to present Neil Simon's classic comedy, THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE, coming to GTC Burbank beginning March 19th, 2011.
Set in a time of financial recession, THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE explores the resulting tensions between husbands and wives, the hardships and accommodations, the role reversals within families, all as seen through the eyes of America's master comic playwright.
Mel Edison is a well-paid executive of a high powered New York company that has suddenly hit the skids and started to pare the payroll.
Anxiety doesn't help; Mel, too, gets the axe.
His wife takes a job to tide them over, then, she too is sacked.
As if this weren't enough, Mel is fighting a losing battle with the very environs of life. Polluted air is killing everything that grows on his terrace; the walls of the high-rise-apartment are paper-thin, so that the private lives of a pair of German stewardesses next door are open books to him; the apartment is burgled; and his psychiatrist dies with $23,000 of his money.
Mel does the only thing left for him to do: he has a nervous breakdown. It is on recovery that we come to esteem him all the more. For Mel and his wife and people like them have the resilience, the grit to survive.
Neil Simon, one of the most popular of twentieth-century American dramatists, is known for his comedies that often examine the tensions that can arise among family members or between men and women living in New York. In his play, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, which ran on Broadway for 788 performances beginning in 1973, Simon's comedy turns darker as he explores the devastating effect that city life can have on a middle-aged couple. In early 1970s, when the play takes place, New York City was beset by financial problems, high crime, and strikes that made daily life often inconvenient and sometimes dangerous. The play chronicles Mel and Edna's struggle to survive city life, coupled with noisy neighbors, faulty plumbing, and the loss of employment, and to maintain a measure of dignity in the process.
Wasatch Theatrical Ventures was established to bring revivals of great American plays to small theatre stages at the highest artistic level -- with first class production values worthy of any venue. Given the success of WTV's inaugural presentation, its critically acclaimed 2010 production of ALL MY SONS, it is clear that WTV's mission has been enthusiastically received by LA audiences and critics alike. Hot off that launch, WTV returns with another American theatrical masterpiece, to be presented at the renowned GTC Burbank Theatre.
THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE runs March 19th through May 22nd, 2011. Previews are March 11th (8 PM), 12th (8 PM), 13th (3 PM) and 18th (8 PM), with opening night March 19th. Performances are at GTC Burbank at 1111-B West Olive Ave. in Burbank, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 3 PM. Tickets are $20 (previews), $30 (general admission). Running time is 120 minutes with intermission and concessions available. Wheelchair access. Allow time for street parking. No performances Easter weekend: April 22nd, 23rd and 24th, or May 8th or 9th.