Laughter on the 23rd Floor

Poster for the original Broadway production

Laughter on the 23rd Floor is a play by Neil Simon.

Inspired by Simon's early career experience as a junior jokesmith (along with his brother Danny) for Your Show of Shows, the play focuses on Sid Caesar/Jackie Gleason-like Max Prince, the star of a weekly comedy-variety show circa 1953, and his staff, including Simon's alter-ego Lucas Brickman, who maintains a running commentary on the writing, fighting, and wacky antics which take place in the writers' room. At the plot's core is Max's ongoing battles with NBC executives who fear his humor is too sophisticated for Middle America.

The characters in the play are based on Neil Simon's co-writers on Your Show Of Shows. Woody Allen is often misattributed to the Ira Stone character, as the character in the play is a hypochondriac and Allen went on to use that affectation to great effect in his own comedy career. However, in actuality Simon was poking fun at Mel Brooks. The real-life counterparts for each character are:

Poster for the 1996 Version

Lucas Brickman	Neil Simon
Max Prince	Sid Caesar/Jackie Gleason
Kenny Franks	Larry Gelbart
Val Slotsky	Mel Tolkin
Brian Doyle	Michael Stewart
Milt Fields	Carl Reiner
Carol Wyman	Selma Diamond
Ira Stone	Mel Brooks
Harry Prince	Dave Caesar (Sid's brother)

After twenty-four previews, the Broadway production, directed by Jerry Zaks, opened on November 22, 1993, at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for 320 performances. The opening night cast included Nathan Lane, Ron Orbach, Randy Graff, Mark Linn-Baker, Bitty Schram, J. K. Simmons, and Lewis J. Stadlen. Paul Provenza was originally cast as Ira Stone, but was fired prior to opening.

A West End production headed by Gene Wilder opened on October 3, 1996, at the Queen's Theatre, where it ran for five months.

Lane repeated his role for the 2001 television movie written by Simon and directed by Richard Benjamin. The cast included several faces familiar to TV audiences, among them Victor Garber, Peri Gilpin, and Dan Castellaneta.

In April/ May, 2011, Laughter on the 23rd Floor received a newly conceived production in Philadelphia at 1812 Productions. This production took place in repertory with an original comedy, Our Show of Shows, an homage to Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. This was the first time Laughter on the 23rd Floor was presented with a companion piece. Neil Simon and Sid Caesar both gave their personal approval for this repertory production, and Eddy Friedfeld, co-author of Sid Caesar's autobiography, Caesar's Hours, served as the dramaturg for both shows. Of the companion piece, Our Show of Shows, Sid Caesar wrote, “To the superb cast and crew of 1812 Productions: Thank you for keeping my legacy alive.”

Why the 23rd Floor?

According to Simon, Sid Caesar's writers on the original Your Show of Shows (including Neil Simon and his older brother Danny Simon) held their script sessions at various times on the eleventh and the twelfth floors of an NBC-TV office building; Simon added those numbers together to put his fictional cast on the 23rd floor.

External links

• Laughter on the 23rd Floor at the Internet Broadway Database
• Laughter on the 23rd Floor at the Internet Movie Database