A BOOTCAMP MOMENT—Alec Wilson, left, as Eugene Morris Jerome, and Todd Hermanson as Sgt. Merwin J. Toomey in the Profile Theatre production of Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues” playing now at Theater! Theatre! BELOW: BRITTANY BURCH plays Daisy, Eugene’s sweetheart in Neil Simon’s “Biloxi Blues.”

Profile Theatre opens Simon’s ‘Biloxi Blues’

By KAPLAN TUTTLEBAUM

article created on: 2009-01-15T00:00:00

Profile Theatre’s season of Neil Simon plays continues with the opening Jan. 17 of “Biloxi Blues,” the second in Simon’s “Eugene Trilogy” of semi-autobiographical plays.

The first in the series was “Brighton Beach Memoirs;” the third was “Broadway Bound.” In each of the three works the character of Eugene Morris Jerome is the fictionalized stand-in for the playwright.

“Biloxi Blues,” the 21st of Simon’s plays to reach Broadway where it won the Tony Award for best play of 1985, follows Eugene from his home in Brooklyn to Army boot camp in Biloxi, Miss., during World War II.

The play is a comic barracks drama with some serious undertones. It is worth rememembering that Simon began his career in early television as a writer alongside the celebrated Nat Hiken at the classic comic series “The Phil Silvers Show,” also known as “You’ll Never Get Rich,” about life at Fort Baxter, a mythical Army post in Kansas.

Naïve and introspective, Eugene’s coming of age in bootcamp is marked with his loss of virginity in a methodical, less-than-ideal circumstance’ his confrontation with anti-Semitism, racism and homophobia and falling in love for the first time.  

Ultimately learning to understand the differences of those he encounters, Eugene’s rite of passage is filled with humor without masking the serious undertones of war, loss and acknowledgement of his place in the world.

The geographic and other factual particulars of the story bear little resemblance to Simon’s wartime experience. After graduating from high school at age 16, he enrolled at New York University in the U.S. Army Air Force Reserve training program and was later posted to Colorado, where he also attended the University of Denver.

The Broadway production under the direction of Gene Saks ran for 524 performances with Matthew Broderick in the lead role between March 1985 and June 1986.

Mike Nichols directed the 1988 film version of the play, which also featured Broderick as Eugene.

Profile Theatre’s production of “Biloxi Blues” is directed by Pat Patton, the former artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Portland and associate director at OSF in Ashland. This is his first Profile Theatre production.

Performers in the play include Brittany Burch, Mario Calcagno, Brooke Fletcher, Derek Hermann, Todd Hermanson, Matthew Sa, Schuyler Schmid, Jonah Weston and Alec Wilson.

Alec Wilson as Eugene is making his first appearance with Profile.

“Biloxi Blues” runs at Profile Theatre through Feb. 15. Show time is 8 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Curtain time for Sunday matinees is 2 p.m.

There are low-priced previews scheduled for Jan. 15 and 16.

The other two plays in the Eugene Trilogy will be presented by Profile Theatre as staged readings. “Brighton Beach Memoirs” will be presented on Jan. 19, the Monday after the opening of “Biloxi Blues.” “Broadway Bound” will be presented on Feb. 9, the Monday following the closure of “Biloxi.”

All performances are held at Theater!Theatre!, which is located at 3430 SE Belmont St. in Portland.

For more information or to reserve seats, visit www.profiletheatre.org or call 503-242-0080.