Feature: Apple Hill Stages Neil Simon's Proposals (2001)
A second archived article on the 2001 production of Proposals, this time from the Tribune-Review. Alongside the preview it includes a short list of Neil Simon's plays, a reminder of how often community theatres like Apple Hill turned to his work.
Apple Hill Playhouse returns to Neil Simon territory with 'Proposals'
By Maryann Gogniat Eidemiller FOR THE TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Rebecca Tong (left), playing Josie, and Michael Pushkar, playing Ray, rehearse a scene from Neil Simon's "Proposals" at Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont. (Guy Wathen/Tribune-Review photo) 'Proposals'
8 p.m. today through Saturday, Thursday and June 22 through 23; 2 p.m. Wednesday.
$8 to $13.
Apple Hill Playhouse, Delmont.
Neil Simon's playography
From 1961 to his current "The Dinner Party" on Broadway now, Neil Simon has written more hit plays than anyone this side of Shakespeare.
Come Blow Your Horn Barefoot in the Park The Odd Couple Sweet Charity The Star-Spangled Girl Plaza Suite Promises, Promises Last of the Red Hot Lovers The Gingerbread Lady Prisoner of Second Avenue The Sunshine Boys The Good Doctor God's Favorite California Suite Chapter Two Theyre Playing Our Song I Ought to Be in Pictures Fools Brighton Beach Memoirs Biloxi Blues Broadway Bound Jake's Women Rumors Lost in Yonkers Laughter on the 23rd Floor London Suite Proposals The Dinner Party
When nine characters reunite at a cottage in the Pocono Mountains, their inevitable interactions are not just a matter of making resolutions.
In "Proposals," the Neil Simon play now being staged at Apple Hill Playhouse in Delmont, they also address the issue of time.
"We can't contain it, can't control it and can't get it back," says Pat Byer, theater owner and executive director. "They learn how little time there is, how fast it passes and how precious every moment is."
Simon's plays have been well-received at Apple Hill, where his "The Sunshine Boys," "Last of the Red Hot Lovers" and the female version of "The Odd Couple" also have been performed.
"I wanted to do something new, and it was nice to find something that hasn't been done to death," Byer says about the new production. "We didn't want to do some of Simon's other plays because of the strong language, but this play shouldn't be offensive. It's some of Simon's best work, and it's hilarious."
The story takes place outside the cottage, a setting that the stage crew found challenging.
"They had to create an exterior atmosphere with trees, grass, plants and the lighting to fit the mood," Byer says.
"Proposals" is set in August of 1953, but wanders in and out of the past. The story is told by the ghost of Clemma, the family's housekeeper who is played by Mary Clemmons, a school teacher and jazz singer from New Kensington.
The characters attempt to sort out their tangled lives by reviewing their mistakes, struggling with the meaning of love and commitment, forgiving each other and making and accepting proposals.
Byer, who says she has been acting for four decades, plays Annie.
Her real-life brother-in-law Chip Kerr, of Greensburg, appears as Annie's ex-husband, Burt. Kerr, a social worker, has been in local theater for about 40 years.
"Burt was a businessman who couldn't stop working, so their relationship was ruined by that," Byer says about the stage couple. "Annie waited until their daughter Josie went off to college before she left him. Her relationship with Josie was hurt by the divorce."
Rebecca Tong of Murrysville plays the daughter. She has worked backstage at Apple Hill and has done a number of their children's plays. This is her first appearance in adult theater.
Michael Kokalis of Indiana Township plays Vinnie, an "outrageous" character with mob connections in Miami. He'll later play Nicky in Apple Hill's production of "Grease."
"He gets involved with one of the girls, and things just keep twisting and turning," Byer says.
Ken is played by Bob Capanna, a marine biology student who has performed with St. Vincent Theatre. Sammii is played by Leah Delcoco of Blairsville, another student who is new to Apple Hill. Michael Pushkar of Irwin, who has appeared with Greensburg Civic Theatre, is Ray.
David Early of Pittsburgh is Clemma's long-estranged husband, Lewis, and they have their own dynamics to settle.
Early is a familiar face in commercials and movies shot in Pittsburgh. He and Kerr played leading roles in Apple Hill's "I'm Not Rappaport."
The play is directed by Christine Jesse Klemstine of Delmont. A graduate of Seton Hill College, she was in Apple Hill's "The Foreigner" and was working out of state in professional theater management.