By Bob Thompson
It is often said that laughter is the best medicine. If that is true, I would venture to say that Neil Simon was a true healer — with a master’s degree in laughter and a doctorate in “schtick.” Vienna Theatre Company’s production of The Sunshine Boys brings that healing medicine to the stage. Director Terri Ritchey warms up the audience before curtain with a video presentation about the history of vaudeville, with old film clips and interviews with some of the greats.
The Sunshine Boys is a hilarious story about Lewis and Clark, a famous fictional pair of vaudeville comedians who broke up their act in the 1960s after a 40-year career. They are reconnected after a 12-year silence for a possible reunion to do a history-of-comedy television special.
The show opens in set designer Charlie Boone’s authentic-looking 1980s New York apartment. The bland wallpaper, old TV with an antenna, and tiny kitchen with the old-fashioned refrigerator immediately set the mood. Willie Clark, played to perfection by Paul Smith, lives there alone, waiting for work in show business — a commercial, TV, or a movie role — anything. His nephew Ben is his agent and he visits Willie every Wednesday to drop off his copy of Variety and listen to his complaints. Eddie Perez plays the part of the patient but frustrated nephew/agent very well against Willie’s constant wall of complaints, old memories, and how much he hates his old partner Al Lewis for retiring and ending the act 12 years ago. Ben has the uncomfortable duty of telling Willie that CBS wants the two ex-partners to reunite for a TV comedy special. After the dust settles, Willie agrees to a rehearsal with his former partner. Enter Al Lewis, played with an excellent deadpan by Steve Rosenthal. Al is dropped off at Willie’s apartment by the daughter he lives with in New Jersey. The rehearsal hilariously and expectedly does not go well, but the reunion goes on anyway.
Act Two begins at the CBS studio, with a very frustrated TV crew working with Lewis and Clark on “take number twenty-three” of their famous risqué vaudeville routine in a doctor’s office with the standard vaudeville “young sexy nurse” and lots of innuendos. Their continued arguing about how to do the routine eventually leads to Willie collapsing of a heart attack and ending up bedridden at his dreary apartment, ironically with an older no-nonsense registered nurse with attitude who doesn’t take any of his guff, played spot-on by Carolyn Corsano Wong.
Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys touches on many themes — companionship, memories, commitment, resentment, routine, and love. But the strongest theme is the laughter — it formed the bond that held these two men together as a family for 40 years and the sudden lack of it caused the rift between them. The irony and humor in the ending of the show is signature Simon and brings everything back where it belongs — healed.
Running Time: Two hours with a 15-minute intermission.
The Sunshine Boys plays through February 7, 2026, presented by Vienna Theatre Company, performing at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, Vienna, VA. Tickets, priced at $16, are available online or in person at the Vienna Community Center.
Bob Thompson is the current president of Prince William Little Theatre, with over 27 years of experience as an actor on DC Metro-area community stages, a producer, and a WATCH-nominated director.
The Sunshine Boys
By Neil Simon
Directed by Terri Ritchey
