PUHI — “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” proves there are many roads to funny. There’s one-line zingers, witty back-and-forth banter, sarcastic observations, flatulence and a stream of F-bombs coming out of the mouth of an unlikely source. Luckily for Kaua‘i,
PUHI — “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” proves there are many roads to funny. There’s one-line zingers, witty back-and-forth banter, sarcastic observations, flatulence and a stream of F-bombs coming out of the mouth of an unlikely source.
Luckily for Kaua‘i, Director Arnold Meister and his cast has mastered all of these techniques.
The play opens 7 p.m. today at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse, and runs through June 4.
The comedy is penned by Neil Simon (“Lost in Yonkers,” “The Out-of-Towners” and “Boloxi Blues”), whose entire career has been showered with Tony and Oscar nominations.
Time magazine wrote, “If Broadway ever erects a monument to the patron saint of laughter, Neil Simon would have to be it.”
The play is inspired by Simon’s real-life experiences working as a comedy writer for Sid Caesar’s “Your Show of Shows.”
Simon portrays himself as young up-and-comer Lucas Brickman, who is working on the writing staff of The Max Prince Show. The staff is made up of some of the funniest (and screwed-up) people in Hollywood, including exaggerated versions of Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Selma Diamond, Carl Reiner and Larry Gelbart.
Kaua‘i Community Players offers a fly-on-the-wall account of what it was like to be a comedy writer in the 1950s. There’s serious undertones — the group of creative oddballs are grappling with the Red Scare, McCarthy’s black list and a bullying network that wants them to dumb down their jokes.
This all drives the frenzied star, Max Prince, to the edge, evident by all the punches he delivers to the NBC peacock logo inside the writer’s room.
But every moment in the play lends itself to a joke, whether it’s a wisecrack, keen observation or slapstick antics.
After all, comedy is a business, and these people’s livelihoods are dependent on if they can write a joke.
The cast’s organic interaction under Meister’s hand, “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” is a must see.
“Laugher on the 23rd Floor” opens 7 p.m. today at the Puhi Theatrical Warehouse, located at 4411 Kokowaena St., Puhi.
See the production 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays through June 4. Tickets are $20/$22 for adults, $18/$20 for seniors and $15/$17 for members and students.
For ticket reservations call 800-838-3006 or for KCP information call 245-7700.
• Andrea Frainier, lifestyle writer, can be reached at 245-3681, ext. 257 or afrainier@ thegardenisland.com.
