A SAMUEL FRENCH, INC. TITLE

California Suite

Full-Length Play, Comedy  /  3w, 2m

A humorous confection divided into four parts: Visitor from New York, Visitor from Philadelphia, Visitors from London,and Visitors from Chicago.

  • Cast Size
    Cast Size
    3w, 2m
  • SubGenre
    Subgenre
    Adaptations (Stage & Screen)
  • Suggested Use
    • Monologues
    • Scene work
  • Audience
    Target Audience
    Adult, Senior, Teen (Age 14 - 18)

Details

Summary

A humorous confection divided into four parts: 

In Visitor from New York, Hannah, a magazine writer, is joined by her ex-husband, the question being with whom should their daughter spend the next six months? The banter flies fast and furious, but Hannah's well-wrought artifice crumbles as her fears take hold.

The Visitor from Philadelphia is a wife who arrives at the suite, catching her husband "en flagrante delicto" with a drunken hooker.

Visitors from London Academy Award nominee Diana returns from the ceremony empty-handed to her husband, Sidney, whose homosexuality will be no comfort tonight.

The Visitors from Chicago are two couples ending a disastrous vacation they should not have shared.

Neil Simon at his most humane, compassionate best.

History

California Suite was first presented on Broadway by Emanuel Azenberg and Robert Fryer at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in New York City on June 10, 1976. It was directed by Gene Saks.

Visitor from New York
HANNAH WARREN
WILLIAM WARREN 

Visitor from Philadelphia
MARVIN MICHAELS
BUNNY
MILLIE MICHAELS

Visitors from London
SIDNEY NICHOLS
DIANA NICHOLS

Visitors from Chicago
MORT HOLLEDNER
BETH HOLLENDER
STU FRANKLYN
GERT FRANKLYN
  • Time Period 1970s
  • Setting Four playlets whose action takes place in rooms 203 and 204 in the Beverly Hills Hotel.
  • Features Contemporary Costumes / Street Clothes, Period Costumes
  • Cautions
    • Mild Adult Themes

Media

"For those of us who imagine Los Angeles as nothing but a long street in a desperate search of a parking lot, Neil Simon's California Suite...will come as a vast relief" - The New York Times

Mr. Simon is writing at his ebullient best [...] his language has the grace of conversation we wish our friends could muster [...] makes us laugh so effortlessly." – The New York Times, Read More

"The incisiveness of his wit is driven by an insight into everyday humans and the cultures from which their habits are derived." – Chicago Theatre Beat, Read More 

"The middle aged visitors had last night's middle aged audience laughing heartily." – NY Daily News

Music

  • Musical Style N/A (Not a musical)
  • Vocal DemandsN/A (Not a musical)

Licensing & Materials

  • Minimum Fee: $130 per performance

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Authors

Neil Simon

American playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon (1927-2018) is widely regarded as one of the most successful, prolific and performed playwrights in theatre history. In addition to Lost In Yonkers, which won a Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize, his plays and musicals include Come ...

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