Broadway Bound is the third and final installment in Neil Simon’s semi-autobiographical cycle of plays about growing up in Brooklyn in the 1930s and ’40s.   

Collaboration is the byword for many arts organizations today, especially theaters where financial support is tough to obtain and ticket revenues are seldom enough to support the cost of productions. By working together, economies can be achieved and, in some cases, multiple constituencies can be activated.  

It’s surprising that one of the most frequently produced and honored playwrights of the 20th century hasn’t previously had one of his works staged at our award-winning regional theater, but it’s almost worth the wait given the current staging of Neil Simon’s 1983 Tony Award winner, Brighton Beach Memoirs.   

More often than not, I try to introduce CityBeat readers to new plays and writers. We see quite a few such shows locally thanks to Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati (ETC), the Cincinnati Playhouse and Know Theatre. In fact, looking at American Theatre’s list of 2012-2013’s “Top 10” most-produced plays, six have already been presented locally.  

If you haven’t ventured to Covington’s Carnegie Center for a show at the Otto M. Budig Theatre, you’re overlooking a pleasant evening’s entertainment. From the opening lines, it’s easy to like The Odd Couple, especially with the poker buddies who provide context for the “couple.”  

Neil Simon is a comic playwright, but in 1983 his writing showed new depth with Brighton Beach Memoirs. The first of several autobiographical plays, this one features his alter ego, Eugene, at 14, growing up part of an extended family in the Brooklyn/Coney Island neighborhood of Brighton Beach, an enclave of second-generation Jewish immigrants.