Make sure to check in to revival of ‘Plaza Suite’

TOM TITUS

Neil Simon has written a few-jillion plays over the past 40-plus

years, most of which mine particular veins of humor. With “Plaza

Suite,” an oldie-but-still-goodie from 1968, he scripted three

different stories, each of which aims for a separate section of the

funny bone.

The Huntington Beach Playhouse has resurrected this three-pronged

comedy, among Simon’s best, in a sparkling production that survives a

few technical and performance glitches. The three stories of “Plaza

Suite” unfold in the same room of New York’s Plaza Hotel -- which, as

portended in Act I dialogue, is changing. The real Plaza Hotel has

been closed for a few years and is being converted into high-ticket

condominiums.

Director Tessa Jacobs wisely maintains the 1968 time period -- to

update it would have necessitated immense dialogue alterations,

especially in the second act with all its name-dropping of

then-current celebrities. Her cast is well-chosen for the three

particular forms of comedy required.

In Act I, “Visitor From Mamaroneck,” a 23rd (or 24th) anniversary

celebration turns into a marital crisis as the wife (Miriam Lebental)

prepares their wedding-night suite for a romantic interlude. Trouble

is, her Type A-businessman husband (Sam Piper) doesn’t have time for

trysting -- he’s more involved with his work and his glamorous

secretary (Ali Hejna).

This is the “seriously funny” segment of the show, with only

Lebental’s character tossing the occasional laugh lines and Piper

fending them off. Lebental is entertaining but somewhat uneven until

push comes to shove and she delivers a terrific, heartfelt ultimatum.

Piper squirms effectively under her constant romanticizing, but

the line that draws the most laughter (“Maybe I should dye my hair”)

is unintentional, since Piper himself is quite bald. Hejna brightens

the proceedings significantly in her businesslike appearance.

The second act, “Visitor From Hollywood,” is particularly

appealing and beautifully enacted by its principals, Greg Stich as a

young Tinseltown producer and Julie Ellis as the New Jersey housewife

and mother-of-three he dated in high school.

Stich smoothly steers Ellis toward the bedroom with soft words and

generous helpings of vodka, working his advantage of celebrity to

high effect. Ellis, as the star-struck object of his desire, neatly

projects her fawning-fan persona, rejecting his advances while

simultaneously falling into his arms.

From the comparatively sophisticated comedy of Act II, we proceed

to the knockdown, drag-out farce of Act III, “Visitor From Forest

Hills,” in which a quarrelsome couple strives to pry their nervous

daughter out of the bathroom on her wedding day. Hey, at least she

didn’t hop a bus to Albuquerque.

Michael Ross, one of the funniest actors around, steams mightily

over his daughter’s determined reluctance as the expensive

celebration drags on downstairs. Ross, the master of the stage

“take,” is particularly funny during his several seconds (minutes?)

of silence upon hearing the news.

As his equally frustrated wife, Carla Heller matches his bombastic

bluster while attempting to “reason” the situation. Hejna’s blushing

bride and Russell Whaley’s hip groom complete the picture, with

Whaley also contributing waiter/bellhop bits in the first two scenes.

The opulent Plaza Hotel setting by James W. Gruessing Jr. is

impressive, with decoration by Andrew Otero, but a very un-Plazalike

riser located upstage center contradicts the intended mood. A

lighting snafu in the third act was uncomfortable on opening night,

but Heller (onstage alone) handled it well.

“Plaza Suite” is vintage Simon, but like “The Odd Couple” and many

of the playwright’s earlier works, the laughs are still there, and

the revival by the Huntington Beach Playhouse finds most of them.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Independent.