A Neil Simon Comedy, ‘I Ought to Be in Pictures,’ Lands Off-Broadway in Its First Staging Since 1980

Back in 1980, a Neil Simon comedy launched the Broadway career of a young actress named Dinah Manoff. She won a Tony Award for her portrait of Libby, a spunky gal who, having been abandoned by her screenwriter father in early childhood, turns up at his West Hollywood home 16 years later, announcing that she wants to pursue an acting career. While that production of “I Ought to Be in Pictures” also starred the noted veterans Ron Leibman and Joyce Van Patten — and was adapted into a film, in which Ms. Manoff was cast alongside Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret — the play has not seen a revival on or off-Broadway until now. In the new staging, by the troupe Theater Breaking Through Barriers, Libby is played by Makenzie Morgan Gomez, who brings a dynamic, sunny presence to her off-Broadway debut.Ms. Gomez also employs, by turns, a wheelchair and a walking cane: TBTB aims to advance artists with disabilities and develop audiences with the same inclusivity. Originally founded in 1979 as Theater by the Blind, the company expanded its mission in 2008, as is obvious in this production, which features both surtitles for deaf patrons and narrated, detailed descriptions of the characters and their surroundings — delivered at the beginning of each of the two acts, unobtrusively — to accommodate those who are blind or have low or “sighted” vision. An able-bodied actor, Chris Thorn, and a blind actress, Pamela Sabaugh — both stage vets — complete the cast as, respectively, Libby’s father, Herb, and his long-suffering girlfriend, Steffy. When we meet them, Herb is grappling with writer’s block, a condition he deals with by alternately whining and engaging in avoidance, such as blowing off a meeting with executives to go to the races at Hollywood Park.Predictably, Herb’s problems with commitment still extend to personal relationships. During one of his sporadic glimmers of self-awareness, he asks Steffy, a makeup artist with kids of her own, “Why do you bother with me? I’m hardly ever nice to you. I make love to you all night and don’t say two civil words to you in the morning. You’re still an attractive woman.”Pamela Sabaugh and Chris Thorn in ‘I Ought to Be in Pictures.’ Carol RoseggThis wince-inducing appeal — down to that last, patronizing sentence — may provide a clue as to why Simon’s work, for all its enduring popularity, is only seldom produced on Broadway these days: Even if, like me, you don’t consider yourself unduly preoccupied with misogyny, his portraits of men and women can be as dated (and, where women are concerned, as condescending) as many of his jokes.In fact, it’s not discrediting Mr. Thorn, who has impressed me in numerous roles, or director Nicholas Viselli to note that Herb comes across as shallow and obnoxious — despite the playwright’s predictably hokey efforts to turn him into a caring dad by the end of Act Two. That requires a considerable reach, as Herb’s behavior toward his daughter is even more appalling at times.It’s not that either woman in “Pictures” is portrayed as a fool, or a doormat. While Simon has imbued Steffy, who’s made extremely likable in Ms. Sabagh’s game performance, with an almost saintly patience, the character also exudes the kind of practical, externally focused wisdom that suggests what smug politicians really mean when they describe their wives as the brains of their families. If Libby is supposed to be more patently clever, it is implied that’s because she has inherited her father’s sense of humor — evidenced throughout the play with lines like, “I’m just plain old Herb Tucker, I’m not somebody from ‘The Waltons,’” and, regarding his daughter, “I don’t even know how she found me. It took them 20 years to find Eichmann.” Simon devotees will nonetheless find considerable charm in this production, which is enhanced by Bert Scott’s cozy scenic design and the vintage pop hits played before the show and during intermission. For me, the highlight was Ms. Gomez’s infectious smile; I hope she’ll be able to put it to better use as her career advances.

A Neil Simon Comedy, ‘I Ought to Be in Pictures,’ Lands Off-Broadway in Its First Staging Since 1980

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