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Plaza Suite
05/18/01
By David Cuthbert Theater critic
"Went with Joycie to ‘Plaza Suite,' " Noel Coward wrote in his diary in 1969. "Such a good idea, having different plays all played in a hotel suite. I wonder where Neil Simon got it from?" The answer was Coward's "Suite in Three Keys," produced three years earlier.
"Plaza Suite" was an enormous hit on Broadway, as a touring show, a movie and then as the ultimate dinner theater play. It must be an unwritten law that all dinner theaters are required to produce "Plaza Suite." A new production has just opened ...Read More
Plaza Suite
05/18/01
By David Cuthbert Theater critic
"Went with Joycie to ‘Plaza Suite,' " Noel Coward wrote in his diary in 1969. "Such a good idea, having different plays all played in a hotel suite. I wonder where Neil Simon got it from?" The answer was Coward's "Suite in Three Keys," produced three years earlier.
"Plaza Suite" was an enormous hit on Broadway, as a touring show, a movie and then as the ultimate dinner theater play. It must be an unwritten law that all dinner theaters are required to produce "Plaza Suite." A new production has just opened at Carlone's Dinner Theatre, firmly anchored in its era by brand names ("the Pepsi generation" ) and name-dropping ("Frank and Mia").
The playwright's Simonized laughs are still here, and director C. Patrick Gendusa knows how to get them. The best thing he's done is to cast Suzaune Yee McKamey and Nigel Mist in the leads. They're not obvious casting, but they are skilled, attractive, expressive actors. McKamey neatly differentiates her Mamaroneck matron, starstruck New Jersey housewife and mother of the bride. The three playlets involve adultery, seduction and trying to extract a bride from the bathroom on her wedding day. All play well enough, but there's a certain staleness to these overly familiar tales.
If "Plaza Suite" is new to you, however, there will be dependable enjoyment here, augmented by Michael J. Miller's funny turns as a nerdy bellboy, prissy French waiter and bored bridegroom. Alex Beaudry plays the secretary with a secret and the worried bride.
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