{"id":85364,"date":"2025-04-03T12:14:10","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T19:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/hi-lo\/?p=85364"},"modified":"2025-04-03T15:05:48","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T22:05:48","slug":"theater-news-humorous-gods-favorite-opens-this-weekend-at-long-beach-playhouse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/hi-lo\/art\/theater-news-humorous-gods-favorite-opens-this-weekend-at-long-beach-playhouse","title":{"rendered":"Theater News: Humorous \u2018God\u2019s Favorite\u2019 opens this weekend at Long Beach Playhouse\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Theater News, a regular column by longtime reviewer Anita W. Harris. Look for it most Thursdays. Or sign up<\/a> for our Eat See Do newsletter to get it in your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Long Beach Playhouse on Anaheim Street near PCH boasts two stages, an art-filled lobby, reasonably priced concessions that include wine and beer, cozy seating and an almost continuous array of shows. What more could one want from a community theater that\u2019s been a fixture here since 1929?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opening this weekend at the Playhouse\u2019s downstairs Mainstage Theatre is \u201cGod\u2019s Favorite,\u201d by prolific and award-winning playwright Neil Simon. A loose retelling of the biblical book of Job, in which a man has everything taken away \u2014 wealth, possessions, family \u2014 in an extreme test of his faith, the play promises both amusement and something to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Director James Rice said he was drawn to this play for its central question \u2014 \u201cWhy do bad things happen to good people?\u201d \u2014 and how Simon answers it with wit and humor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n Link<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

First produced on Broadway in 1974, \u201cGod\u2019s Favorite\u201d focuses on the wealthy yet devout Joe Benjamin of Long Island, New York, whose wife, three children and two household staff all give him grief in one way or another. When a \u201cmessenger\u201d shows up one night to get Joe to renounce his faith, and he refuses, all hell breaks loose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturated with jokes, one-liners and sarcasm typical of a Neil Simon comedy, \u201cGod\u2019s Favorite\u201d nonetheless offers a view of faith that may resonate with the biblical version of the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Artistic director Sean Gray said the play has been described as one of Simon\u2019s \u201cmost imaginative.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAlthough most of Simon\u2019s plays are about average people in average domestic situations, with the intervention of a messenger from God as central to the story, the notion of average is largely cast aside,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A preview photo of Long Beach Playhouse’s “God’s Favorite” that begins April 5. Photo courtesy Long Beach Playhouse.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Madison Mooney, executive director of the Playhouse, noted that \u201cGod’s Favorite\u201d is not produced as often as the playwright\u2019s other works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile it has the same humor and wit as \u2018The Odd Couple\u2019 and \u2018Barefoot in the Park,\u2019 it’s not the same story our audiences are used to,\u201d she said, referring to Simon\u2019s more well-known plays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mooney said Playhouse audiences seem to enjoy comedies, and she describes \u201cGod\u2019s Favorite\u201d as \u201cfunny, touching, thought-provoking and supremely entertaining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To stage the play, set designer David Scaglione and technical director Jesse Bosworth \u201cfaced the interesting task of figuring out the best way to incorporate a revolving stage\u201d on the theater\u2019s floor, Mooney said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that costume designer Christina Bayer \u201cput together a lot of fun, very over-the-top 1970s costumes\u201d to reflect the play\u2019s original 1974 New York setting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before its regular run begins Saturday, the Playhouse is offering two low-cost preview performances \u2014 pay-what-you-can on Thursday, April 3, and $10 tickets on Friday, April 4, both at 8 p.m. Saturday\u2019s opening night ticket includes a champagne reception with the cast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mooney said the show\u2019s eight volunteer actors \u2014 most of them returning to the Playhouse after performing in its previous productions \u2014 are primed for this comedy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSimon never fails to infuse his plays with plenty of verbal zingers that audiences enjoy,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd this cast and director are particularly good at zinger-delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGod\u2019s Favorite\u201d runs April 5 to May 3 at the Long Beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., with shows Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. Free parking is available in a lot behind the theater and surrounding streets. For tickets and information, call the box office at 562-494-1014 or visit <\/i>LBPlayhouse.org<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of Neil Simon’s less-performed plays, it’s a loose, comedic retelling of the biblical book of Job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":207,"featured_media":85363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[32310],"class_list":["post-85364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85364"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85387,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85364\/revisions\/85387"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85364"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=85364"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/esd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=85364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}