Simon in Winter

We still play Simon Says.

Even if Broadway doesn't.

"Is it fair to re-evaluate what he wrote in the '60s and '70s for the society we have today?" asks Paul Thornton, director of Neil Simon's "I Ought to Be In Pictures," opening tonight at Las Vegas Little Theatre. "People today are so much more jaded than we were in the '60s and '70s."

Undeniably true. Also true is that the legendary writer, now 82 -- a man who virtually owned Broadway for decades, whose name even graces one of its theaters, who won a Pulitzer Prize for "Lost in Yonkers" -- no longer maintains the same vise grip on theatergoers.

That was painfully proven last year, when a revival of "Brighton Beach Memoirs," one of Simon's most produced plays, bombed big-time on Broadway. It closed after a week, and the ripple effect even washed away a planned revival of his "Broadway Bound."

Simon's reaction to the New York Times: "I'm dumbfounded."

Such things do not happen to America's playwright. ... Do they?

Dissecting the flop in a piece six months ago, Times writer Patrick Healy noted that "Mr. Simon's signature has always been the well-written, straightforward punch line, but new and revived comedies have done best on Broadway lately when they have been dark, satiric and outrageously narcissistic."

Similarly, Susan Koprince, author of "Understanding Neil Simon," told Healy: "American sensibilities about comedy change so rapidly, especially in the cultural centers on the East coast and West coast where people are always looking for the next new style of humor, whereas Neil Simon's brand of humor is pretty unchanging."

Yet at the Little Theater, with its older subscriber base that recalls Simon's monster reign, "I Ought to Be In Pictures" -- a 1980 play (and 1982 movie) that creakily references George Segal as a major movie star, sure to soar over younger heads -- should still be a reliable attraction.

"It's a wonderful, simple show," Thornton says. "There's not a lot that's going to be belly laughs, but there's some good one-liners in there. And it was in our first rehearsal that I told the cast that Simon writes characters that are more complex than people give him credit for."

A three-person play, "Pictures" gives us Herb Tucker, a struggling Hollywood screenwriter who abandoned his New York family 16 years earlier. Enter brassy, 19-year-old daughter Libby, who arrives on his doorstep, hoping to kick-start a relationship and perhaps get Herb to help along her hoped-for acting career. Her visit triggers Herb's re-evaluation of his parental responsibilities, as well as his on-and-off relationship with his devoted girlfriend.

Jokes pepper the piece, particularly with Simon's trademark New York-Jewish spin:

Herb: "Fifteen years ago, you couldn't get pastrami like that out here. Or real corned beef. They had to fly it in from New York. Thousands of hungry Jews would be waiting at the airport."

And ...

Libby: "(Mom) went with Mr. Slotkin, the butcher from Food Fair, for a couple of years. He was nice -- he would bring over lamb chops, veal cutlets, things like that. ... When he started bringing over chicken wings, we knew the romance was over."

Still, "Pictures," with serious familial issues and confrontations between Herb and Libby, is one of Simon's earlier efforts to blend comedy and drama, following the autobiographical "Chapter Two." Two plays later would come "Brighton Beach Memoirs," the beginning of his famed trilogy, along with "Biloxi Blues" and "Broadway Bound."

"There's a lot of depth if you hunt for it," says Scott McGee, who portrays Herb. "(Simon) does a really interesting thing, he just sneaks up on you. He plies you with a bit of comedy, then he'll pack a punch that gets you. He does have poignant issues he addresses."

Co-star Rachel Lanyi, who plays Libby, agrees. "There's a lot of underlying meaning behind the stuff that's blatantly obvious to the audience," she says. "I'm finding levels to the character. She's not just outgoing and crazy. A lot of that is just covering up her insecurities."

However, Simon still stymies some contemporary theatergoers. As one blogger wrote on the Times' website: "Too soon for Neil Simon plays to be classified as classics and too late for them to be seen as relevant. Try again in 15 years."

Older audiences may still play along to Simon Says. Attracting young fans? Thornton shrugs:

"I guess we'll find out."

Contact reporter Steve Bornfeld at sbornfeld@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0256.