NORTH BEND — The news is a funny thing.
Comedians are always talking about it, and a growing number of Americans say they get their news from late-night comedy shows.
Long before that trend emerged, though, comedians were commenting on current events. And just as comedy of the present can inform us about the present, so can comedy of the past impart history.
That’s what co-director Tim Novotny hopes will happen when “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” opens tonight at Little Theatre on the Bay in North Bend.
The play offers a semi-autobiographical account of Neil Simon’s first job in television as a writer for Sid Caesar’s variety show in 1953.
“A lot of true history is thrown in,” Novotny said. “It may drag people to the Internet or the library.”
Novotny said the play sparked him to research both historical figures mentioned in the play, including Joseph McCarthy and the Rosenbergs, as well as the real people who inspired the characters — Caesar and his writing staff, which one character calls the greatest ever assembled. He recently bought some DVDs of Caesar’s show.
“It’s over 50 years old, and it’s still very funny,” Novotny said.
Along with Simon, the writing staff included Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Carl Reiner, “M*A*S*H” creator Larry Gelbart, “Hello, Dolly!” writer Michael Stewart, Mel Tolkin, Sheldon Keller and Lucille Kallen.
Though Novotny hopes to inspire curiosity about those people and their careers, he didn’t want his actors to try to be them, because a significant enough portion of LTOB’s audience can remember 1953.
“I didn’t want them to think, ‘This guy’s no Mel Brooks,’” he said.
Another historical element of the play is its continuation of the life story of Neil Simon, which was chronicled in a trilogy of plays concluding with “Broadway Bound,” which LTOB staged last fall. The first two parts appeared at On Broadway Theater in 2003 and 2005.
“This is the next step in Neil Simon’s career,” said co-director Anna Weidemiller. “We just thought it was a nice way to cap it off.”
The play
On camera, Max Prince (Byrell Justice) is considered the greatest comedian of his time. Off, he’s already well on his way to the “Behind the Music” phase on his career, relying on tranquilizers and Scotch to ease the stress of dealing with his corporate overlords at NBC.
As the budding audience for television in America expands beyond the coasts, Max’s ratings begin to slip, and the executives suspect the humor of his mostly Jewish writers is too sophisticated for Middle America. Budget cuts that begin with a diminishing supply of bagels and a reduction in show time from 90 minutes to an hour could progress to staff cuts affecting even the prized writers.
Among those on the chopping block are Lucas (Alexander Rich), the quiet newbie; flamboyant Milt (Darren Dirk), who jokes so much it’s impossible to take anything he says seriously; head writer Val (George Nixon), a Russian immigrant; Brian (Morgan Filbert), an Irishman who dreams of Hollywood; Kenny (Tim Novotny), who frequently answers Max’s “drunk dialed” calls; Carol (Bobbi Wilson), who realizes McCarthy’s rise could put any of them on the blacklist; and Ira (Jeff Roberts), an abrasive hypochondriac. At least their secretary (Michelle Brown) is safe.
Though the anxiety of losing one of them sends Max to work disoriented, paranoid and delusional, he can still toss references to the Thracian War as well as President Bartlet. He believes he can win, that the changes will fail and NBC will reverse course.
Well, it worked for Leno.
