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# Santa Monica Theatre Guild stages Neil Simon's 'The Prisoner of Second Avenue'
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/011306-story-20060113/
- Published: 2006-01-13T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T17:03:06.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

Urban jungle’s got you down? A remake of a classic play might take the edge off for a while.

“The Prisoner of Second Avenue” is one of Neil Simon’s classic comedies, capturing the absurdities and angst of life in the urban jungle with witty dialogue and the laughter of desperation and despair.

Modern city life starts to prove too much for one middle-aged couple living on New York City’s Upper East Side during an intense summer heat wave. With their air conditioner on the fritz and a prolonged garbage strike, they’re cracking under the strain of the rat race.

The play is directed by Lewis Hauser, who previously directed Neil Simon’s “Rumors” and “Laughter on the 23rd Floor” for the Santa Monica Theatre Guild at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre. “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” opened on Broadway in 1971 with Peter Falk and Lee Grant, and was later made into a movie starring Jack Lemmon and Anne Bancroft in 1975\. The 2000 Los Angeles Theatre Works audio play featuring Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason was nominated for a 2001 Grammy Award.

“The Prisoner of Second Avenue” opens Jan. 20 at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre and continues through Feb. 18 with performances Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $18 for general admission, $15 for seniors and students, with group discounts available and may be purchased by calling the the-atre box office at (310) 828-7519\. Jazz is in the air

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 13, 2006.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011306.pdf?ref=smdp.com)