Stage West brings Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite to Spring Hill

A Neil Simon comedy about marriage, embarrassment and middle-aged meltdowns opened at Stage West Playhouse in Spring Hill, bringing one of Broadway’s most recognizable writers back to a local stage at 8390 Forest Oaks Blvd.

The production of Plaza Suite runs through May 24, with evening performances scheduled for May 15, 16 and 22 at 7:30 p.m. and matinees set for May 17, 23 and 24 at 2 p.m. Tickets are available at the box office in Spring Hill or online, giving Hernando County residents a chance to see a classic theater piece close to home instead of driving out of county for a show night.

Plaza Suite has a long run in American theater. It opened on Broadway in 1968 and is built as a three-act comedy, with each act centered on a different couple in Suite 719 of the Plaza Hotel. That structure helped make Simon a household name, alongside works such as The Odd Couple and Lost in Yonkers. A Broadway revival starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker opened in 2022 and closed July 10, 2022, another sign of the play’s staying power.

At Stage West, the production carries a different kind of value: it keeps a volunteer-driven community theater active in the middle of Spring Hill. Stage West describes itself as a nonprofit community organization devoted to promoting theatre arts in the tri-county area and beyond, and says it exists to provide an open avenue for creative expression through amateur theatrical productions. For local audiences, that means a familiar venue, familiar faces and a night out that stays rooted in Hernando County.

The play is being presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. The ad for the show also notes sponsorship support in part from the State of Florida through the Division of Arts and Culture and the National Endowment for the Arts. With both evening shows and daytime matinees on the schedule, Stage West has built a run that reaches families, retirees and theatergoers who want a low-key cultural option in their own county.