''Proposals'' is a comedy-drama by

Neil Simon Marvin Neil Simon (July 4, 1927 – August 26, 2018) was an American playwright, screenwriter and author. He wrote more than 30 plays and nearly the same number of movie screenplays, mostly film adaptations of his plays. He received three ...

, his 30th play. After running in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

in 1997, the play opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

in 1997.

Productions

''Proposals'' had its world premiere at the

Ahmanson Theatre The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that compose the Los Angeles Music Center. Shows at this theater are produced by Center Theatre Group. History The theatre was built as a result of a donation from Howard F. Ahmanson Sr, the ...

in Los Angeles, followed by a run at the Kennedy Center in

Washington, DC Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

in October 1997. The play opened on Broadway at the

Broadhurst Theatre The Broadhurst Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 235 West 44th Street (Manhattan), 44th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1917, the thea ...

on November 6, 1997Brantley, Ben
"Theater Review. A Lone Woman in the Forest? Is This a Neil Simon Play"
November 7, 1997 and closed on January 11, 1998 after 76 performances and 11 previews.Viagas, Robert
Neil Simon's Proposals To Close Jan. 11"
playbill.com, January 11, 1998 Directed by

Joe Mantello Joseph Mantello (born December 27, 1962) is an American actor and director known for his work on stage and screen. He first gained prominence for his Broadway acting debut in the original production of Tony Kushner's two-part epic play ''Angels ...

, the cast included

Kelly Bishop Kelly Bishop (born Carole Jane Bishop; on February 28, 1944) is an American actress and dancer, best known for her roles as matriarch Emily Gilmore on the series ''Gilmore Girls'' and as Marjorie Houseman, the mother of Jennifer Grey's Frances " ...

, Suzanne Cryer

Katie Finneran Katie Finneran (born January 22, 1971) is an American actress best known for her Tony Award–winning performances in the Broadway play '' Noises Off'' in 2002, and the musical '' Promises, Promises'' in 2010. Finneran appeared in the original c ...

Dick Latessa Richard Robert Latessa (September 15, 1929 – December 19, 2016) was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Latessa was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1929. After serving in the Army in maybe 1952, he began performing in Clevela ...

, Peter Rini as Vinnie and L. Scott Caldwell as Clemma. The sets were by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by

Brian MacDevitt Brian MacDevitt is a lighting designer and educator. He has worked extensively on Broadway and Off Broadway, as well as touring, Regional theatre, and Industrial productions. He won the Tony Award for Best Lighting Design for his work on the 2 ...

and incidental music by

Stephen Flaherty Stephen Flaherty (born September 18, 1960) is an American composer of musical theatre and film. He works most often in collaboration with the lyricist/book writer Lynn Ahrens. They are best known for writing the Broadway musicals ''Ragtime'', wh ...

. ''Proposals'' had "one of the shortest runs ever for a Neil Simon play on Broadway. Only ''Fools'' (1981) had a shorter run, with 40 performances."

Plot overview

A nostalgic memory play, ''Proposals'' recalls one idyllic afternoon in the summer of 1953, the last time the Hines family gathers at its retreat in the Poconos.Flatow, Sheryl.
"Neil Simon Tells Love Stories in 'Proposals' "
playbill.com, November 18, 1997 Clemma, the family's African-American housekeeper (and the story's narrator), dreads a visit from the husband who deserted her years before. Burt Hines, a recovering

workaholic A workaholic is a person who works Compulsive behavior, compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no ...

convalescing from a second

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

, looks forward to the arrival of the ex-wife he still loves. Burt's daughter Josie has just broken her engagement to Ken, an intense

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

law student, and she yearns for his buddy Ray, an aspiring

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

with whom she had a brief affair. Ray shows up with a striking but dim-witted model on his arm, and a young

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

gangster A gangster (informally gangsta) is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''Organized crime, mob'' and the suffix ''wikt:-ster, -st ...

with a gift for

malapropisms A malapropism (; also called a malaprop, acyrologia or Dogberryism) is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound, either unintentionally or for comedic effect, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. An examp ...

adds a note of hilarity to the gathering.

Reception

Ben Brantley Benjamin D. Brantley (born October 26, 1954) is an American theater critic, journalist, editor, publisher, and writer. He served as the chief theater critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1996 to 2017, and as co-chief theater critic from 2017 t ...

, in his review for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote: "Mr. Simon has been blessed with an unusual facility for zippy dialogue and innately involving, neatly shaped stories, but a rich sense of character has always come less easily to him....With ''Proposals,'' unfortunately, there's little sense that the people on the stage are more than conduits for the jokes and the plot. Still, how could a playwright with more than two dozen Broadway productions in 30-some years not go on automatic pilot from time to time?"

References

External links

Internet Broadway Database listing

Provides character descriptions, audition listings, and other useful show related resources. {{DEFAULTSORT:Proposals 1997 plays Broadway plays Plays by Neil Simon