Yellowed Comics

Vaudeville entertainers have gone the way of the dinosaurs, the Polaroid instant camera, and America Online. But in the world of live theater, their influence is still felt by nostalgists who miss the variety, camaraderie, and nonthreatening slapstick of the vaudeville show. Proof: Of the 34 plays Neil Simon has written since 1961, The Sunshine Boys, which charts the offstage enmity between two vaudeville comedians, is one of his most-produced. Simon wrote the play in 1972, when the comedy duo “Lewis and Clark” had gone their separate ways after an acrimonious falling-out. The story follows their attempt to reunite for a CBS special on the history of comedy. The Sunshine Boys is a staple of Broadway, regional, community, and international theaters alike, having been staged with cranky old men such as Alan Arkin, Walter Matthau, Woody Allen, and Peter Falk. The Miami Acting Company, one of South Florida’s newest theater companies, tries its hand at the comedy classic this Thursday through October 21, in a production directed by Richard Cifuentes.
Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 2 p.m. Starts: Oct. 11. Continues through Oct. 21, 2012