Six showings of the Neil Simon comedy “California Suite” are headed for Riverside.
The Glaser Players and Strand Theater are presenting the show at St. Paul’s Parish, 60 Akenside Rd., on Sept. 11, 12, 18 and 19 at 7:30 p.m. and on Sept. 13 and 20 at 3 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase on the Strand’s website, with only 100 reserved for each showing.
“We definitely wanted to do something that was well known,” said John Dumas, the leader of the group. “We hit on Neil Simon. We thought that would be something. He’s one of the great comedy playwrights of the 20th century, and his stuff does not get done a lot anymore, surprisingly.”
Director Nancy Greco said the show, which is split into four vignettes with different characters set in the same hotel room, appealed to her in part because she had acted in it previously.
The other constraint, she said, was picking a show with just one set due to space constraints, as the Strand and the Glaser Players are still searching for a permanent home.
“I gave them a list of things, and originally, there were a couple of suggestions for some other pieces, and I said no. They wanted ‘Noises Off,’ and I said, ‘It’s one set, but it’s a difficult set. There’s too much running around. If you don’t know your space, it’s not practical,” Greco told the Landmark. “[Simon] had written ‘Plaza Suite,’ which took place in one hotel room, but I actually think that ‘California Suite’ is better written.”
Dumas said the group was able to secure the performance space after Father Luke Wetzel of St. Paul’s reached out to them about it.
“He has some knowledge in theater, and he actually had reached out to us. They’ve been supporters of the food pantry for a while, so I’ve gotten to know him,” Dumas said. “They’ve followed our story in your paper, and [he knew] we weren’t going to have a permanent space again, so he reached out to us and said, ‘Hey, if we can help you in the short term, we’d be happy to do that.’”
Over the past four weeks, the cast has been rehearsing wherever they can find the space, Greco said. Many days, that’s been the Share Food Share Love food pantry, 9030 Brookfield Ave., where Dumas is the administrative director. On Tuesdays, when the pantry is open for distribution, Greco has had her cast over her house to rehearse.
“My basement is all finished. There’s an extra bedroom down there with a bed and everything, so it lends itself to a hotel room with a bed and a couch,” she said.
Greco said she was a friend of Daryl Glaser, for whom the Glaser Players are named, after he cast her in a play in Riverside in 1984.
“Over the years, I did many productions with him. It really touches my heart that I get to be the first director for the inaugural show, having worked with him. I feel like I can take him to heart and think that he’s looking over my shoulder, helping me with ideas and encouraging me,” she said.
Greco said she’s most looking forward to seeing the audience’s reaction to the differing facets of the show.
“It’s very funny,” she said. “There are things that are poignant, though, and I want to see if the audience picks up on it and what the audience thinks of some of the things that I directed people to do that I thought punched up the humor or made it more poignant or touching.”
