Eugene Trilogy - History

History

The trilogy tells the story of Eugene Jerome from his adolescence in New York City, to his time spent in basic training in Biloxi, Mississippi during World War II, and finally to the beginning of his career as an aspiring comedy writer. The trilogy is a semi-autobiographical account of Neil Simon's own early life and career.

In an interview in 1986, Simon said: " 'Brighton Beach' was going to be another singular play....Again, I still hadn't thought of a trilogy. But I decided to take Eugene the next step chronologically in my life, which was the army. But even after I wrote 'Biloxi Blues', I still didn't think about a sequel, because if it turned out to be a bomb, why would one want to do a sequel? So I just waited to see what would happen. Well, Biloxi enjoyed enormous success, and I thought of a third part."

Stage

Brighton Beach Memoirs premiered on Broadway on March 22, 1983; Biloxi Blues premiered on Broadway on March 28, 1985 and Broadway Bound premiered on Broadway on December 4, 1986.

Film

Brighton Beach Memoirsand Biloxi Blueswere made into films, while Broadway Bound was adapted as a made-for-TV movie. On screen the role of Eugene Jerome was played by Jonathan Silverman in Brighton Beach Memoirs, Matthew Broderick in Biloxi Blues (he also played Eugene in the Broadway productions of both Brighton Beach and Biloxi Blues), and Corey Parker in Broadway Bound.