| Chapter Two | |
|---|---|
 Playbill cover | |
| Written by | Neil Simon |
| Date premiered | October 7, 1977 |
| Place premiered | Ahmanson Theatre Los Angeles |
| Subject | A writer struggles to escape the memory of his recently deceased wife |
| Genre | Comedy-drama |
Chapter Two is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. The play premiered on Broadway in 1977, where it ran for 857 performances.
According to Sheridan Morley, "This was in some ways the turning-point for Simon, the moment when he started to use his own life as something more than an excuse for a gag-fest. It was written as a tribute to Marsha Mason, his second wife, and her tolerance with his long-lasting grief over the death of his first wife...There is something very painful here, in among the gags, about a man trying to come to terms with death rather than a new life." [1]
The play focuses on a recently widowed writer, George Schneider, who is introduced by his press agent brother to soap opera actress Jennie Malone. Jennie's marriage to a football player has dissolved after six years. Both are uncertain of their readiness to start dating and developing a new romance when her breakup is so recent and he still has recurring memories of his deceased wife, Barbara.
Neil Simon's first wife, Joan Baim, died in 1973.
The play had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Ahmanson Theatre on October 7, 1977, closing November 26. Produced by Emanuel Azenberg and directed by Herbert Ross, the cast included: Judd Hirsch as George, Anita Gillette as Jennie, Cliff Gorman as Leo, and Ann Wedgeworth as Faye. [2] The production won the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards (1977–78): Distinguished Production; and Neil Simon, Distinguished Playwriting. [3]
The play opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on December 4, 1977, and transferred to the Eugene O'Neill Theatre in January 1979, where it closed on December 8, 1979 after 857 performances and seven previews. [4] The Los Angeles cast reprised their roles on Broadway. Cast replacements included David Groh, Dick Latessa, Laurence Luckinbill, Robin Strasser, and Susan Browning.
The play received four 1978 Tony Award nominations: Tony Award for Best Play; Anita Gillette for Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play and Cliff Gorman for Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play. [5] [4] Ann Wedgeworth won the 1978 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. [6]
The play premiered in the West End at the Gielgud Theatre in February 1996, with Tom Conti and Sharon Gless. [1] [7] Gless later recorded a two-disc audiobook of the play with David Dukes for LA TheatreWorks.
A portion of the Chapter Two 1977 play and Chapter Two (1979 movie) were used in the plot of the sitcom Seinfeld 's third season's episode: "The Letter, Season 3, Episode 20". [8]
Simon adapted the play for the 1979 film version Chapter Two . It was directed by Robert Moore with James Caan and Simon's then-wife Marsha Mason, the inspiration for character Jennie. [9] Caan said he made the film to earn some money while preparing for Hide in Plain Sight (1980 film). [10]
Marvin Neil Simon 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 has received three Tony Awards, and a Golden Globe Award as well as nominations for four Academy Awards and four Primetime Emmy Awards. He was awarded a Special Tony Award in 1975, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1995 and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2006.
The Goodbye Girl is a 1977 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Herbert Ross, written by Neil Simon and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Quinn Cummings and Paul Benedict. The film, produced by Ray Stark, centers on an odd trio of characters: a struggling actor who has sublet a Manhattan apartment from a friend, the current occupant, and her precocious young daughter.
Marsha Mason is an American actress and director. She has been nominated four times for the Academy Award for Best Actress: for her performances in Cinderella Liberty (1973), The Goodbye Girl (1977), Chapter Two (1979), and Only When I Laugh (1981). The first two films also won her Golden Globe Awards. She was married for ten years (1973–1983) to the playwright and screenwriter Neil Simon, who was the writer of three of her four Oscar-nominated roles.
James Edmund Caan was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in The Godfather (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor. He reprised his role in The Godfather Part II (1974). He received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1978.
Sharon Marguerite Gless is an American actress known for her television roles as Maggie Philbin on Switch (1975–78), Sgt. Christine Cagney in the police procedural drama series Cagney & Lacey (1982–88), the title role in The Trials of Rosie O'Neill (1990–92), Debbie Novotny in the Showtime cable television series Queer as Folk (2000–2005), and Madeline Westen on Burn Notice (2007–2013). A 10-time Emmy Award nominee and seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee, she won a Golden Globe in 1986 and Emmys in 1986 and 1987 for Cagney & Lacey, and a second Golden Globe in 1991 for The Trials of Rosie O'Neill. Gless received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1995.
California Suite is a 1976 play by Neil Simon. Similar in structure to his earlier Plaza Suite, the comedy is composed of four playlets set in Suite 203-04, which consists of a living room and an adjoining bedroom with an ensuite bath, in The Beverly Hills Hotel.
Herbert David Ross was an American actor, choreographer, director and producer who worked predominantly in theater and film. He was nominated for two Academy Awards and a Tony Award.
The Good Doctor is a comedy with music written by Neil Simon. It consists of a series of short plays, based on short stories and other works of Russian writer Anton Chekhov, framed by a writer making comments on them.
Plaza Suite is a comedy play by Neil Simon.
Elizabeth Ann Wedgeworth was an American character actress, known for her roles as Lana Shields in Three's Company, Hilda Hensley in Sweet Dreams, and Merleen Elldridge in Evening Shade. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for Chapter Two (1978).
Biloxi Blues is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon. It portrays the conflict of Sergeant Merwin J. Toomey and Arnold Epstein, one of many privates enlisted in the military stationed in Biloxi, Mississippi, seen through the eyes of Eugene Jerome, one of the other soldiers. This play is the second chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy, following Brighton Beach Memoirs and preceding Broadway Bound. The play won the Tony Award for Best Play, and Barry Miller won a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance as Arnold Epstein.
Brighton Beach Memoirs is a semi-autobiographical play by Neil Simon, the first chapter in what is known as his Eugene trilogy. It precedes Biloxi Blues and Broadway Bound.
Frances Hussey Sternhagen was an American actress. Sternhagen was known as a character actress who appeared on- and off-Broadway, in movies, and on television for over six decades. She received numerous accolades including two Tony Awards, a Drama Desk Award, a Saturn Award, as well as nominations for three Primetime Emmy Awards.
L. Scott Caldwell is an American actress perhaps best known for her roles as Deputy U.S. Marshall Erin Poole in The Fugitive (1993) and Rose on the television series Lost.
Proposals is a comedy-drama by Neil Simon, his 30th play. After running in Los Angeles and the Kennedy Center in 1997, the play opened on Broadway in 1997.
Anita Gillette is an American actress and singer. She has performed numerous roles on Broadway, American television, and in feature films.
They're Playing Our Song is a musical with a book by Neil Simon, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and music by Marvin Hamlisch.
The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that compose the Los Angeles Music Center.
I Ought to Be in Pictures is a comedy drama play written by Neil Simon, his 18th. The play opened on Broadway in 1980. It was subsequently made into a film, released in 1982. The play involves a film screenwriter who has abandoned his family, and his daughter who arrives at his home, seeking his help in becoming an actress.
Chapter Two is a 1979 American Metrocolor romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Moore, produced by Ray Stark, and based on Neil Simon's 1977 Broadway play of the same name. It has a 124-minute running time. It stars James Caan and Marsha Mason, in an Academy Award-nominated performance.
