Lost in Yonkers

For the film, see Lost in Yonkers (film).

Lost in Yonkers
Original Broadway poster
Written by	Neil Simon
Characters	Bella Louie Grandma Kurnitz Eddie Arty Gert Jay
Date premiered	February 22, 1990
Place premiered	Richard Rodgers Theatre New York City, New York
Original language	English
Subject
Genre	Comedy
Setting	An apartment in Yonkers, New York, 1942
IBDB profile

Lost in Yonkers is a 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Neil Simon. After eleven previews, the Broadway production, produced by Emanuel Azenberg and directed by Gene Saks, opened on February 21, 1991 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, where it ran for 780 performances. The original cast included Irene Worth as Grandma, Mercedes Ruehl as Bella, Kevin Spacey as Louie, Lauren Klein as Gert, Danny Gerard as Arty, Jamie Marsh as Jay, and Mark Blum as Eddie.

Plot

Lost in Yonkers is a coming of age tale that focuses on brothers Arty and Jay, left in the care of their Grandma Kurnitz and Aunt Bella in Yonkers, New York. Their desperate father, Eddie, works as a traveling salesman to pay off debts incurred following the death of his wife. Grandma is a severe, frightfully intimidating immigrant who terrified her children as they were growing up, damaging each of them to varying degrees. Bella is a sweet but mentally slow and highly excitable woman who longs to marry an usher at the local movie house so she can escape the oppressive household and create a life and family of her own. Her brother Louie is a small-time, tough-talking hoodlum who is on the run, while her sister Gert suffers from a breathing problem which cause is more psychological than physical. Missing much of the sentimentality of the plays comprising Simon's earlier Eugene trilogy, Lost in Yonkers climaxes with a dramatic confrontation between embittered mother and lonely daughter that creates a permanent fissure in this highly dysfunctional family.

Film adaptation

Main article: Lost in Yonkers (film)

Simon adapted his play for a 1993 feature film directed by Martha Coolidge. Worth and Ruehl reprised their stage roles, and Richard Dreyfuss was cast as Louie. Bella's beau Johnny, an unseen character in the play, was portrayed by David Strathairn.

Awards and nominations

Awards

• 1991 Drama Desk Award for Best New Play
• 1991 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
• 1991 Tony Award for Best Play
• 1991 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Mercedes Ruehl)
• 1991 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Play (Irene Worth)
• 1991 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Play (Kevin Spacey)

References

• Frank Rich (22 February 1991). "Review/Theater: Simon on Love Denied". The New York Times. http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?html_title=&tols_title=LOST%20IN%20YONKERS%20(PLAY)&pdate=19910222&byline=By%20FRANK%20RICH&id=1077011430624. Retrieved 2008-06-26. 

External links

• Lost in Yonkers at the Internet Broadway Database
• Lost in Yonkers at the Internet Movie Database