There’s a special snap in the air when a Neil Simon comedy hits the board — a kind of crisp, city-night electricity that says, “relax, you’re in the hands of a pro.”
In 1968, “Plaza Suite” opened on Broadway with George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton and promptly reminded America that nobody mapped the topography of marriage — the bruises and the balm — quite like Simon. Three short plays, one legendary room at New York’s Plaza Hotel, and a parade of lovers, liars, dreamers, and second-chancers.
The furniture doesn’t move, but the human heart does.
Long Beach Playhouse leans into that legacy through Saturday, Nov. 29, with a production that feels tailor-made for our season of gratitude. “Plaza Suite” plants us in Suite 719 for three distinct tales: First, a couple revisiting their honeymoon room to see if the embers still glow; second, a Hollywood hotshot angling to seduce his hometown flame; and third, my personal soft spot, a wedding-day standoff as two frantic parents plead with their daughter, locked in the bathroom, to come out and say “I do.”
Simon’s trick, as always, is compassion.
Long Beach Playhouse’s production of “Plaza Suite” is on show through Nov. 29, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach Playhouse).
Jessica Plotin as Norma Hubley, and Lee Samuel Tanng as Roy Hubley in the Long Beach Playhouse’s production of “Plaza Suite,” on show through Nov. 29, 2025. (Photo by Mike Hardy/Long Beach Playhouse).
Show Caption
1 of 2
Long Beach Playhouse’s production of “Plaza Suite” is on show through Nov. 29, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Long Beach Playhouse).
The laughs are plentiful, but the affection is what lingers.
“Each act is brilliantly constructed,” artistic director Sean Gray told me, and he’s right. Simon hands actors a full painter’s kit, wit, ache, surprise, and invites them to mix carefully. Gray tapped James Rice to direct, calling him “a master at drawing out the emotions in the script and the responses to the circumstances the characters find themselves confronting.”
Translation: Expect the laughs to land and the silences to matter. Design-wise, the Playhouse knows its way around elegant nostalgia.
Greg and Donna Fritsche handle the suite with that old-New-York polish, crisp lines, rich textures. Executive director Madison Mooney put it simply: “The set and costumes will be visually striking and give the perfect set and look for the actors and the story.”
The six-actor ensemble is a Playhouse sampler with a welcome new flavor. Returning favorites Lisa J. Salas (Karen Nash), Todd Rew (Sam Nash), Charlie Rodriquez (Jesse Kiplinger/Bellhop/Borden), Jessica Plotin (Norma Hubley), and Lee Samuel Tanng (Roy Hubley) share the suite with debut artist Ryabrae Ngaida (Muriel Tate/Jean McCormack/Mimsey).
If you know this house, you know they cast for precision and heart. Simon needs both. Mooney framed the evening with a lovely thought, noting that “this play exemplifies the saying ‘If walls could talk.”
And it’s perfect for the month of Thanksgiving. It reminds us to be grateful for what we have and to look forward to what comes next.
I say, in a year that keeps asking us to choose cynicism or grace, “Plaza Suite” quietly votes for grace — then slips you a punchline when you least expect it. Long Beach, bring your laughter and your tender spots. Simon will take good care of both.
If you go
Where: Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E Anaheim St.
When: Through Nov. 29.
Cost: Friday tickets are $27, Saturday and Sunday tickets are $32. There are discounts available for seniors and students.
Info: lbplayhouse.org.