Laughter on 23rd Floor

30^th July to 9^th August 2003

By Neil Simon
By special arrangement with Dominie Pty Ltd
Directed by Jude Menz

Synopsis:  This hilarious play is another of Neil Simon's semi-autobiographical works based on his experience when a young man working as a comedy writer on the Sid Caesar Comedy Hours, a weekly American television comedy show, in the 1950's.  The characters are loosely based on the group of writers with whom he worked at the time, all wonderful individual characters, two of whom were Woody Allen and Mel Brooks.  It is set in 1953 in the Writers' Room in "The Max Price TV Variety Show" on the 23^rd Floor of a building on 57^th Street, New York City, hence the name of the play.  As always Neil Simon has us rolling on the aisles one moment and near to tears the next, but always coming out of the theatre having had a great theatrical experience.  Well worth coming out for on a cold Winter's night!

Matt Byrne from Messenger Press wrote:
"The show is stolen by Greg Janzow as the hyper hypochondriac Ira. His openly wounded performance lifts the show to a lunatic level Sid Caesar would have loved..Standout performances come from Les Zetlein in fine fashionable fettle as Milt, Rachel Brunsden as the wisecracking Carol and Michelle Martinez as the surprising secretary Helen...There's some nice work from Vic Rowe as the Russian Jew head writer Sol Skolsky, and promising efforts from Justin Nicholas as the fighting Irish Brian Doyle and Roland Partis as the boy genius Kenny Franks."