Having grown up in the 1950s and 60s, I was ‘aware’ of Neil Simon. I knew that he wrote comedies and that they were very successful on Broadway. I remember people talking about him and his plays on late night talk shows and interviews with the stars of the shows. I don’t remember any of the specifics but I do remember being impressed with the whole phenomenon at the time. Needless to say I have never seen his work on Broadway and I didn’t see the Robert Redford/Jane Fonda movie at the time. By then I was deep into the counter-culture of the time so…
Before we get into the actual play and performances at the Renaissance Theaterworks, let me applaud the pre-performance and intermission overhead music. I don’t know who selected it, Martilla Marechal or Josh Schmidt?, both listed as Sound Designers in the program, but it suited the atmosphere of the play perfectly. Many of us were tapping our feet and a couple of people were dancing in their seats and I had to be very careful not to sing out loud too loudly as the house filled. If there had been similar after show music the staff would have had to throw me out!
We are in apartment 5A, the top floor of a Greenwich Village brownstone. Newlyweds Corie and Paul Bratter are moving in after spending their six day honeymoon at The Plaza Hotel. Corie is absolutely excited about having an apartment of their own but Paul hasn’t seen it yet, well, until he comes home from work at his law office. It is a mess, with missing plaster, dysfunctional heating, a hole in the skylight, and a leak from the attic apartment above them. It makes some of my east side student quarters seem absolutely posh by comparison. And, the furniture hasn’t arrived yet!
Corie is a full of life excitable girl. And Emily Vitrano uses every excitable bone in her body to portray Corie as such. Vitrano’s Corie just can’t sit still, can’t stop thinking, and sometimes just can’t stop talking. She has plans for the apartment, well as soon as the furniture arrives and is totally excited to meet their upstairs neighbor Victor Velasco. Through all of this Vitrano is just a spark plug of movement and excitement and how she maintains that level of energy through the ups and downs of the action here is beyond my imagination.
Neil Brookshire is her new husband, Paul, a button down personally conservative lawyer husband. Brookshire isn’t always sure what to make of Corie’s boundless enthusiasm and her very clear and demonstrative love for him, although Brookshire’s Paul is seemingly just as much in love with Corie. He just isn’t at the same level. This dichotomy of personality will come between them in a bit.
Our other main characters are the aforementioned Victor Velasco and Corie’s mother. Let’s start with Mother. Jenny Wanasek’s Mother is a sweet and endearing older woman who clearly loves doting on her daughter. And she seems happy with herself and her life. But Corie wants her mother to be more into life and more like herself, despite her mother’s protests. Wanasek keeps her motherly cool throughout even in the face of Corie accusing her of not liking the apartment despite her mother’s denials. But Wanasek knows how to party when the time comes, trust me! I don’t quite understand Corie’s resistance to her mother’s personality here…it seems to go beyond just youthful rebellion…there must be some backstory that I am missing.
And I didn’t recognize Reese Madigan as Victor Velasco. Madigan plays the ultimate outsider, beatnik, cultural snob…very actively…very forward and out front…and absolutely delightful with just a bit of smarm thrown in. Velasco’s bohemian appeals to both women and Madigan knows how to be over the top eccentric here!
And then comes the conflict. After only four days in their new apartment, after a dinner party to set up Mother with Velasco, Paul and Corie get involved in a loud bitter mean fight with demands of divorce and get outs voiced. There was a lot of alcohol involved…something that may seem strange now…but given the period…there was a lot of alcohol involved from scotch to mis-mixed martinis to ouzo. I believe the martinis were shaken and not stirred. But yes, there is a happy ending or this wouldn’t be a mid-century Neil Simon Rom Com.
Barefoot In The Park is directed by RTW co-founder Suzan Fete and after 33+ years with the company, she is stepping down as Artistic Director. Fete feels the language and the humor and the period (1963) for Barefoot. And she pulls all of that humor out of her cast in marvelous ways. And although some of Simon’s language and humor is a bit dated, Fete recognizes that and puts tin perspective. And for audience members of a certain age, these dated artifacts are all the funnier.
There is a sideshow here and during the intermission you may want to stay in the theater or return quickly after securing a beverage or cookie. During the intermission, the furniture arrives and the show is the quick and complete setting up the furniture and lamp shades and art work and hanging plants throughout the apartment. The nimble stage crew got their own round of applause for their efforts. And Corie’s canister set is to die for.
Barefoot In The Park runs from now until April 12, 2026 at the theater RTW shares with Next Act at 255 S Water St, Milwaukee, WI.
Additional information here and tickets here.
Extra credit reading: Playbill and Audience Guide