The Prisoner of Second Avenue

Name: The Prisoner of Second Avenue
Brand: Findaway
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.2 (15 reviews)
Author: Neil Simon
ISBN: 9781580815017

Author: Neil Simon

Narrator: Richard Dreyfuss, Marsha Mason, Full Cast

Unabridged: 1 hr 37 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: L.A. Theatre Works

Published: 01/01/2000

Categories: Fiction, Drama, Nonfiction, Performing Arts, Theater

Synopsis

Neil Simon takes a good look at apartment life, career and role reversals, a nervous breakdown, and the love, torture, care, or inertia that somehow keeps a couple in a relationship for many years. At points, it's laugh-out-loud funny; at other times, it offers sensitive insight into the human condition. Fast-moving dialog with nonstop Simon quips and jokes performed extremely well by two fine actors: who could ask for more? This is classic American comedy produced, acted, recorded, and packaged in an exemplary manner.

An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Annie Abbott, Lorin Dreyfuss, Richard Dreyfuss, Betty Garrett, Sharon Madden and Marsha Mason.

About Neil Simon

Neil Simon is the writer of more than forty Broadway plays, including Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, and Lost in Yonkers, which won the Pulitzer Prize.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Brad on April 06, 2021

The Prisoner of Second Avenue is nowhere near Neil Simon's most famous play, but this performance for L.A. Theatreworks does happen to star two of Neil Simon's most famous actors doing what they do best, sharing their exceptional chemistry and making us laugh. Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason (once......more

Goodreads review by Bobby on January 06, 2019

I understand Mel getting a little neurotic at the loss of his job and the robbery of his apartment, but I don't understand why he and Edna stay in the city, and I don't think his neurosis is enough to support a two-act play.......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on November 14, 2015

By my estimation, this is one of Neil Simon's lesser works. It goes nowhere and as far as I can tell it has little to say. At various points it is glib, self-satisfied, paranoid, out-of-date (when it was written, and more so today) and snootily anti-middle-class. It spends most of its running time l......more

Goodreads review by Jojo on April 21, 2025

Summary: Edna and Mel are a couple living in NYC. When Mel loses his job, he basically loses his mind. On top of that, they get robbed. Several weeks go by, Mel is feeling like a prisoner in his own home as he still has no job. Meanwhile, Edna has a job of her own now to help tide them over money-wi......more