Barefoot in the Park
Written by Neil Simon
Characters Corie Bratter
Paul Bratter
Mrs. Ethel Banks (Corie’s mother)
Victor Velasco
Telephone repair man
Date premiered October 23, 1963
Place premiered Biltmore Theatre
Broadway
Original language English
Subject Newlyweds learn to cope with life, and each other
Genre Comedy
Barefoot in the Park is a romantic comedy by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1963, and starred Robert Redford and Elizabeth Ashley. The play was made into a film in 1967, also starring Redford (and Jane Fonda).
The play opened on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on October 23, 1963 and closed on June 25, 1967 after 1,530 performances. This was Neil Simon’s longest-running hit, and the tenth longest-running non-musical play in Broadway history. Directed by Mike Nichols, the cast starred Elizabeth Ashley (Corie), Robert Redford (Paul), Mildred Natwick (Mrs. Banks), and Kurt Kasznar (Victor Velasco). The scenic design was by Oliver Smith, costumes by Donald Brooks and lighting by Jean Rosenthal. The play was nominated for three 1964 Tony Awards, and Mike Nichols won the award for Best Director (Dramatic).
Myrna Loy starred in the national tour during the time the play was still on Broadway.
A revival opened on Broadway at the Cort Theater on February 16, 2006 and closed on May 21, 2006 after 109 performances. The cast included Amanda Peet (Corie), Patrick Wilson (Paul), Jill Clayburgh (Mrs. Banks), and Tony Roberts (Victor). The revival was directed by Scott Elliott.
A revival production toured the United Kingdom in 2012. The cast included Maureen Lipman, Faye Castelow, Dominic Tighe, and Oliver Cotton. The play was directed by Lipman in partnership with Peter Cregeen.
Corie and Paul Bratter are a newlywed couple. For their first home, they live in an apartment on the top floor of a brownstone in New York City. During the course of four days, the couple learns to live together while facing the usual daily ups-and-downs. Corrie wants Paul to become more easy-going: for example, to run “barefoot in the park.”
Adaptations
Simon adapted his play for a 1967 feature film, starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, directed by Gene Saks.
A television series based on the play began on ABC in September 1970. It was an African-American situation comedy which ran for twelve weeks. The show featured Scoey Mitchell and Tracy Reed as a “young middle-class couple living in a New York City apartment and struggling through the first years of marriage.” This was one of two television series based on Neil Simon plays to debut on the network that month, the other being The Odd Couple.
A production of Barefoot in the Park ran at the Moore Theater in Seattle for one week in late 1981, which was taped for a made-for-TV movie by HBO. The play—and movie—starred Richard Thomas as Paul, Bess Armstrong as Corie, Barbara Barrie as Mrs. Banks, and Hans Conried as Velasco. It was initially telecast in March 1982. The reviewer for UPI wrote: “Richard Thomas—light years removed from the John Boy image of his youth—is superb as Paul Bratter, the buttoned-down young lawyer struggling to come to terms with the elfin free spirit with whom he finds himself honeymooning. Bess Armstrong glows in the role of his wife, Corrie, but Barbara Barrie virtually walks away with the show as her bemused mother.”
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia