Use the form below to search for tickets on your desired date. Dates from
Synopsis Harry Baker should be a happy man, but his sons are a daily trial. Alan is a playboy with a penchant for beautiful girls and now Buddy, formerly so timid and obedient, has joined his brother in dissipation, unsuccessfully experimenting with the fair sex while his parents become more mystified and irate. Alan suddenly redeems himself by settling down, and Buddy, having learned how to handle women, determines to take over Alan's role as the family playboy.
Many people think of Neil Simon as being the master of the mid life crisis comedy due to his huge success with The Odd Couple. But Come Blow Your Horn which launched Simon's career in 1961 is a play about youth and young love in New York.
The setting is the Big Apple in the 1960's. Life is booming and the city that never sleeps offers the fabulous Baker brothers a cool high life. Alan (Jamie Glover) is the older, more worldly wise, brother who knows how to 'play' women and fool his father. Buddy (Andrew Langtree) is younger, shyer and less streetwise. Both of them walk out of the family's waxed fruit business which leaves Papa Baker (Malcolm Rennie) incensed as they have turned into the "bums" that he has always despised.
Meanwhile Connie (Sarah-Louise Young), Alan's on-off girlfriend is falling in love with him and he cannot seem to resist her charms. This will please Mama Baker (Amanda Boxer) who is on standby to call the caterers!
This bright and breezy comedy is slick, sophisticated and stylishly executed. Jacob Murray's assured direction complements Simon's sparkling writing. Never dated, each line has a classic quality which never fails to amuse.
The actors acquit themselves superbly playing it for laughs and hitting the comedy bullseye each and every time. Langtree plays Buddy like a mixture of Woody Allen and Lee Evans with all the laughs. Boxer holds her own as the hypochondriac Mom as does Rennie playing her angry, disappointed husband. Glover is a great foil for his needy self obsessed family as he stares open mouthed as they ensnare his apartment.
Di Seymour's cosy bachelor pad style set suits the round perfectly, inviting the audience to witness life in the fast lane. Richard Owen's stunning high contrast lighting also evokes the 24/7 nature of New York City in the 1960's.
This fast paced production is a real treat that will leave you with a huge smile on your face. The audience on the night I went embraced the warm material and superbly synchronised comic moments. As the Sinatra song goes: "Nice 'n' Easy does it every time".
Funny, fast and fantastic! Really well acted, brilliant set and a great soundtrack. in reponse to 'a theatre goer in despair' - are you on glue? - 212.57.228.74)
02 Jun 05
Come on 'theatre goer in despair' - be brave. Give us your name! I saw it last Saturday. It was hilarious. The audience went beserk and called the actors back for a third curtain call! What's your problem? Maggie Marline - 172.201.56.17)
02 Jun 05
I have to say I am something of a Neil Simon fan and never tire of watching productions of The Odd Couple, so I was curious to see Come Blow Your Horn done on the stage.
I enjoyed my evening very much. The performances were all to a high standard. In the Frank Sinatra role, Jamie Glover in particular was excellent - as was the lady playing his mother, whose name escapes me at the moment.
I would say that I don't think 'Come Blow' is amongst Neil Simon's more polished works - lacking the comic perfection of his later material. But it is absolutely fascinating to see the origins of the writer Simon was to become. - 212.139.249.123)
01 Jun 05
Jacob Murray needs to find another career. He has nothing to bring to British theatre accept crass, over the top, undignified performances from a group of actors who would have done a lot better if he had been in another country while they were rehearsing. What a travesty of Simon's gentle, charming comedy. - 213.123.205.8)
St Ann's Square Manchester Greater Manchester M2 7DH
Telephone
0161 833 9833
Station
Description
Closed by Manchester bombing 1996. Reopened Dec 1998 with a new 120 seat studio space added. Seats 750. Founding sponsor of The Studio - Selfridges and Co.
Whatsonstage.com - Discount London theatre tickets, theatre news and reviews, Theatre videos, Theatre discussion, National Theatre Listings. Covering London's West End, all of Theatreland and all UK theatre. The best
for London Theatre Ticket Discounts.
