Laughter on the 23rd Floor

The play focuses on Sid Caesar-like Max Prince, the star of a weekly comedy-variety show circa 1953, and his staff, including Simon's alter-ego Lucas Brickman, who maintains a running commentary on the writing, fighting, and wacky antics which take place in the writers' room. Max has an ongoing battle with NBC executives, who fear his humor is too sophisticated for Middle America. The play is notable not only for its insider's look at the personalities and processes of television comedy writing, but also for its reflection of the political and social undercurrents of its time, in particular the rise of Joseph McCarthy, relationships between various (European) American ethnicities, and attitudes toward women.

Laughter on the 23rd Floor is a roman à clef, with the characters in the play based on Neil Simon's co-writers on Your Show of Shows. Lloyd Rose, in her Washington Post review, noted several of the real-life inspirations: the "Sid Caesar–inspired Max Prince", "hypochondriac Ira (played by Ron Orbach, inspired by Mel Brooks)" ... and "fussy Russian emigre Val (Mark Linn-Baker, inspired by Mel Tolkin) .... There is no character based on Woody Allen."Rose, Lloyd. "Theater;'Laughter' Comes Easy. Too Easy", The Washington Post, November 23, 1993, p.B1 Like many Rose attributes "dryly witty, sane Kenny (John Slattery) as inspired by Larry Gelbart and Carl Reiner when it was actually only Gelbart.[https://www.newsfromme.com/2018/04/08/caesar-salad-4/ Evanier, Mark. Caesar Salad.] The Ira Stone character is often misattributed to Allen, as the character in the play is a hypochondriac and Allen went on to use that affectation to great effect in his own comedy career. Simon actually was poking fun at Brooks.{{cite video| url=http://blip.tv/file/4260393/| title=Kevin Pollak's Chat Show: Paul Provenza/Rick Overton #69| accessdate=2011-01-07| quote=Provenza states at 40:16 that he was originally cast to play the Mel Brooks character and wanted to meet with him during the rehearsal process.}} The real-life counterparts for each character are:

According to Simon, Sid Caesar's writers on the original Your Show of Shows (including Neil Simon and his older brother Danny Simon) held their script sessions at various times on the eleventh and the twelfth floors of an NBC-TV office building; Simon added those numbers together to put his fictional cast on the 23rd floor.{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

Laughter on the 23rd Floor opened on Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on November 22, 1993Simon, Neil. [https://books.google.com/books?id=9-6e20jItx8C&pg=PA4 Script, 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor'"] Laughter on the 23rd Floor (1995) (books.google.com), {{ISBN|0-573-69414-1}}, pp. 5–6 and closed on August 27, 1994 after 320 performances and 24 previews. Directed by Jerry Zaks the cast featured Nathan Lane (Max), Ron Orbach (Ira), Randy Graff (Carol), Mark Linn-Baker (Val), Bitty Schram (Helen), J. K. Simmons (Brian), John Slattery (Kenny), and Lewis J. Stadlen (Milt).Gerard, Jeremy. [https://variety.com/1993/legit/reviews/laughter-on-the-23rd-floor-1200434229/ "Variety Reviews. 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor'"] Variety, November 23, 1993 The play was first performed at Duke University.[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=4586 " Laughter on the 23rd Floor Listing"] Internet Broadway Database, accessed April 12, 2012[http://theaterstudies.duke.edu/about/history "Theater Studies History"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120429032837/http://theaterstudies.duke.edu/about/history |date=2012-04-29 }} Duke University.edu, accessed April 12, 2012 Stephen Mailer played Simon's young stand-in Lucas.

Paul Provenza was originally cast as Ira Stone, but was fired prior to opening.{{cite video| url=http://blip.tv/file/4260393/| title=Kevin Pollak's Chat Show: Paul Provenza/Rick Overton #69| accessdate=2011-01-07| quote=Provenza states at 41:50 that he had been in rehearsals but ultimately fired from the production.}}

A West End production headed by Gene Wilder opened on October 3, 1996, at the Queen's Theatre,Benedict, David. [https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/laughter-on-the-23rd-floor--queens-theatre-1357329.html " 'Laughter on the 23rd Floor': Queen's Theatre"] Independent (London), October 8, 1996 where it ran for five months.

In April and May 2011, Laughter on the 23rd Floor received a newly conceived production in Philadelphia at 1812 Productions. This production took place in repertory with an original comedy, Our Show of Shows, an homage to Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows.[http://www.theatrealliance.org/press-release/1812productions-news-02042011 1812 Productions presents Laughter on the 23rd Floor and Our Show of Shows in repertory"] theatrealliance.org, March 4, 2011 This was the first time Laughter on the 23rd Floor was presented with a companion piece. Neil Simon and Sid Caesar both gave their personal approval for this repertory production,{{citation needed|date=April 2012}} and Eddy Friedfeld, co-author of Sid Caesar's autobiography, Caesar's Hours, served as the dramaturg for both shows. Of the companion piece, Our Show of Shows, Sid Caesar wrote, “To the superb cast and crew of 1812 Productions: Thank you for keeping my legacy alive.”{{citation needed|date=April 2012}}

Lane repeated his role for the 2001 television movie written by Simon and directed by Richard Benjamin. Mark Evanier notes for the movie Simon added a new character, Harry Prince, based on Caesar's brother David and the teleplay "[uses] almost none of the play." The cast included Nathan Lane, Saul Rubinek, Victor Garber, Peri Gilpin, Mark Linn-Baker and Dan Castellaneta.[https://web.archive.org/web/20071205132151/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/237135/Laughter-On-The-23rd-Floor/overview " 'Laughter On The 23rd Floor' (2001)"] The New York Times, accessed April 14, 2012

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• {{Ibdb title|id=4586|title=Laughter on the 23rd Floor}}

{{Neil Simon}}

Category:1993 plays

Category:Broadway plays

Category:Plays by Neil Simon

Category:Plays set in New York City