THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE

Two top-name headliners give disappointing performances in this production of Simon’s comedy. In the roles of Mel Edison, a man on the brink of a nervous breakdown, and his wife, Edna, Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason fail to deliver a believable performance as they deliver their lines with forced emotion. Often overacting, frequently speaking away from the microphones, performing phony stage kisses, Mason and Dreyfuss make it difficult for the listener to accept that they are a married couple at all, let alone a couple suffering unemployment and mental instability. S.E.S. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/NOV 00]