First Neil Simon brought us Felix and Oscar. His “The Last of the Red Hot Lovers” is kind of like “The Odd Couple,” parts II, III and IV: “Barney and Elaine,” “Barney and Bobbi” and “Barney and Jeanette.”
Apparently the only American male, married or otherwise, who didn’t swing his way through the ’60s was a fictional Simon character. Barney Cashman is a true-blue, 47-year-old owner of a Manhattan fish restaurant who has no business cheating on his devoted wife. How true? He’s been with two women in his life, one since marrying his wife 23 years ago. How blue? That’s the only color of suit he owns.
But now obsessed with his own mortality and filled with fear of ending his life yet unlived, Barney is finally ready to take up arms in the sexual revolution. Simon’s 1969 comedy with the hilariously misleading title follows Barney through a trifecta of cold, comic and dismal encounters, each ending in inevitable disaster.
Director Richard H. Pegg’s staging for the Miners Alley Playhouse is a first-rate production of a very funny but still problematic play. His four-
person cast is uniformly outstanding, but as bald Barney, Verl Hite is nothing short of transformative in creating a universal portrait of Simon’s ordinary, middle-aged everyman.
Or is Barney really every man? Simon’s intent here is to explore whether he’s the last decent man left in that guiltless age of appointment quickies and instant sexual gratification without emotion. Barney is a failed philanderer because he’s actually looking for a real human connection, and in the most unlikely of places – his mom’s apartment (don’t ask!).
Simon’s three-playlet structure allows us to enjoy a procession of wonderful and diverse performances by the excellent Missy Moore, Vanessa Bowie and Paige L. Larson as Barney’s incompatible love interests.
The three tales vary so widely in tone, it’s like seeing Simon in three very distinct eras of his writing career. The first act is so acidic as to be discomforting, evoking Simon at his nastiest circa “Lost in Yonkers.” Moore’s Elaine is cool, caustic and so businesslike, you’d think she’s a call girl. Rather, she’s a gorgeous, bored housewife who targeted Barney in his restaurant to satisfy a very different kind of craving.
Simon is much more gentle, friendly and crowd-pleasing in Act II – think “Barefoot in the Park.” Barney tries again with Bobbi, a charming and doe-
eyed young hippie actress who turns out to be far more trouble than our average joe bargained for. The final encounter is Simon at his most fatalistic, akin to “They’re Playing Our Song.” And yet this dour run-in redeems not only Barney but perhaps the possible decency of mankind.
The problematic part? Simon’s repetitive first act goes on far too long. That’s on Simon, who is notoriously unforgiving of any staging that does not perform his scripts to the letter – no cuts and no changes allowed. It’s on Pegg that there’s a second, momentum-
impeding intermission before the third act, stretching a long evening to nearly three hours.
That only heightens the responsibility on Hite, who holds everything together with a precise and carefully reasoned performance that builds from nervous dabbling to a real, possibly even profound, catharsis.
I’m no fan of Simon at his most substantive, because it usually means Simon at his most unpleasant. Maybe it’s because this staging is in such capable hands that I found myself genuinely moved by the plight of an utterly incompetent would-be lothario.
Theater critic John Moore can be reached at 303-820-1056 or jmoore@denverpost.com.
Last of the Red Hot Lovers” | *** RATING
COMEDY|Miners Alley Playhouse, 1224 Washington Ave., Golden|Written by Neil Simon|THROUGH AUG. 27|7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays|2 hours, 45 minutes|$16-$18|303-935-3044; minersalley.com
