LAUGHTER ON THE 23rd FLOOR

By Neil Simon

Directed by Alex Lucchesi

Open auditions will be held on February 16 from 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM and on February 17 and 18 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM at the Club's theater.
Actors will be asked to read from the script.  Perusal copies have been placed at the Hyannis Public Library and Sturgis Library. 

Director Alex Lucchesi seeks a cast of 2 Women and 7 Men for this memorable look into TV of the past and the writers who worked together and wrote the comedic material.​

Production Dates:  Opening on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 and running for 3 weekends through May 18, 2025 on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 PM; Sunday at 2:30 PM

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CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS

LUCAS BRICKMAN:   (mid-late twenties): Lucas has just started his second week as a writer on The Max Prince show. He’s on a four-week “try-out” contract. He’s very much “the new guy” among an already-legendary writing staff, trying to fit in, become one of the group, and impress everyone enough to be hired permanently. He is also among the least neurotic of the bunch.

MILT FIELDS:  (early 30s): Milt is a rapid-fire joke machine. He considers himself to be a cheap “wholesaler” among the other writers, who are “Tiffany” quality. Highly insecure, he tries to stand out by dressing flamboyantly and attempting to be a ladies’ man.

VAL SLOTSKY:  (early 40s): Val is the senior member of the staff, and the most politically aware of the bunch. As a Russian Immigrant, he speaks with a strong accent. He is self-deprecating in an-your-face kind of way. He states his philosophy in the play: All humor is based on hostility.

BRIAN DOYLE:  (early 30s): A chain smoker and heavy drinker, Brian epitomizes the cynical, hard-living writer. He’s acerbic, bitter and has grandiose ideas that, any moment now, Hollywood will come calling. He and Ira are constantly at each other’s throats.

KENNY FRANKS:  (mid-twenties): Kenny is the golden boy of the group – highly respected by all despite the fact that he’s the youngest, he’s sophisticated, worldly and self-assured.

CAROL WYMAN:   (late 20s): Carol is the lone woman on the writing staff. She is a veteran of the industry, having survived, and thrived, in this male dominated environment. In the first act, she’s been trying to get pregnant. In the second act, it is obvious she has succeeded. She is more mature and self-aware than most of her colleagues but is every bit as passionate and quick witted.

MAX PRINCE:  (early 30s): Max Prince is the star of the most popular show on television: The Max Prince Show. Like the characters he plays each week on camera, He is larger than life off camera as well. When he enters a room, he FILLS the room. He has a brilliant madness to him that is exacerbated by his use of alcohol and sleeping pills to fight his perpetual insomnia; increasingly, it either dissipates into disorientation or devolves into out-and-out paranoia. He is a comic genius with a work ethic that is equally impressive. He is a serious professional – and a seriously funny man. He does everything with gusto, exuberance, passion and abandon.

HELEN:   (late 20s) Helen is the quintessential secretary for the group. She is kind-hearted and in awe of the talent she is privileged to be so close to. Her dream is to become a comedy writer herself. Unfortunately, she does not possess an ounce of comedic talent. But she is amiable and, although she is uneducated, she is self-possessed and unafraid to speak her mind.

IRA STONE:   (late 20s) Ira is the most annoying member of the writing team – by far. He is a chronic hypochondriac and shameless attention seeker who is also extremely argumentative. Although he is late for work every day, and generally disruptive it is always he who is the victim. Unfortunately, he is also extremely funny and very inventive. If you don’t kill him, you kind of like him. He and Brian are always at each other’s throats.

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SYNOPSIS

Laughter on the 23rd Floor gives a glimpse into the world Neil Simon which he first took part in as a writer in the early days of television. It opened on Broadway in 1993 and was made into a movie starring Nathan Lane in 2001. His writing has been described as “sophisticated urban humor” written to depict the “silent majority” and their frustrations, imperfections, insecurities in dealing with marriage, friendships, business and all relationships. 

​This side-splitting comedy follows the writing, fighting, and wacky antics which take place in the writers' room of a weekly variety show circa 1953. The show follows the antics of Max Prince, the star of "The Max Prince Show," and his ongoing battles with NBC executives who fear his humor is too sophisticated for Middle America. The characters in the play are based on Neil Simon's real-life co-workers when he was a comedy writer on Sid Caesar's television program "Your Show of Shows." Each of the characters in the play is based on one of the real-life kings of comedy who worked beside Simon in the 50s, including Mel Brooks, Carl Reiner, Sid Caesar and the great Jackie Gleason.  (This Play Contains Adult Language)

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