‘Barefoot in the Park’ opens Jan. 18

Verda Mae Pugh
December 26, 2012
Three silent films, with live music
January 2, 2013
Verda Mae Pugh
December 26, 2012
Three silent films, with live music
January 2, 2013

If there’s an emblem that succinctly defines the inherent chasm between a business-minded husband and free-spirited wife, it just might be walking through the park without shoes.


Thibodaux Playhouse starts the New Year with Neil Simon’s romantic comedy, “Barefoot in the Park,” which probes the power of love.


The play premiered on Broadway in 1963 with more than 1,530 performances in the original run. In 1967, the script was adapted for a feature film starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda.

“Barefoot in the Park” follows a newlywed couple of the 60s through the ups and downs of the first days of marriage.


The plot dives into the first day of reality as main characters Corie and Paul Bratter move into their new home after six days of honeymoon bliss.


Corie, played by Lauren Erwin, is a bubbly housewife optimistic about the future and determined to keep the feelings of romantic euphoria. Corie embraces life with passion and humor, often the opposite of her husband.

“Corie is the idealist of the pair who can actually sometimes be more dangerous than the cynic,” Erwin says. “She loves life and Paul and she likes to get her way.”


Paul, played by Doug DeGirolamo, is a stuffy, straitlaced attorney just beginning his practice whose gears are wound a little too tight. Although he loves his wife, his eyes are on his future and career.


“Paul is the realist,” DeGirolamo says. “He sees life for what it is. He has a plan to move forward with and doesn’t like change.”

The Bratters have moved into a tiny, yet expensive fifth floor walkup apartment in Manhattan. With bad plumbing and the obvious need of a paint job, Corie is still convinced that “someone with taste, imagination and personality can make this that perfect love nest.”


The walls are bare, the floor is vacant of furniture and there is a draft apparently coming from the broken skylight. The entire show takes place under the same cramped roof.


Despite the one-room apartment with no heat or bathtub, a hole in the skylight with impending snow, an oddball neighbor and exhausting stairs that become a burden in the first few lines of the play, Corie is determined to settle into her new home-maker lifestyle.

Melanie Bird, Thibodaux Playhouse director, says “Barefoot in the Park” is a prime example of a newlywed couple that starts off very happy, but quickly learns the necessity of compromise.


“Everything seems to be going pretty well and then some events happen that they don’t expect and they don’t deal with quite as well,” Bird says.

The couple truly gets to know each other and realizes the differences between them. Corie wants the passion to continue while Paul begins to focus on his shaky career. The plot sheds light on the challenges presented with a new couple living together and how the pair must practically fall in love all over again through realization and negotiation.

The new surroundings, Paul’s new job and surprise visits from Corie’s widowed New Jersey mother create marital discord through the couple’s mismatched goals.

This starts with the telephone repairman, played by Roger Hernandez, who gives the audience the first clue about the extensive climb up to the apartment, lack of heat and utensils, and the fragmentary nature of the living space.

Corie’s meddlesome but well-meaning mother, played by Daphne Hernandez, continues to buy her daughter wedding gifts as a result of her empty-nest syndrome and this leads to Corie’s guilt.

The Bratters’ colorful neighbor also adds to the fun by charming Corie with his “dirty old man” demeanor.

Victor Velasco, played by Earl LeBlanc, is the Bratters’ upstairs neighbor who must go through their apartment to get to his.

“He’s the eccentric, weird and flirtatious guy who lives in the attic,” LeBlanc says.

He shamelessly uses the Bratters’ apartment as his own doorway and befriends Corie, teaching her how to use the building utilities.

After a matchmaking attempt for Corie’s mother and Velasco goes awry, Corie realizes just how much she wants Paul to loosen up. The couple’s arguments escalate as they realize their extreme differences. For example, Corie wants Paul to throw caution to the wind and walk “barefoot in the park” and Paul finds frivolities impractical.

“She’s just trying to prove that love is enough in any relationship,” Erwin says.

“Barefoot in the Park” runs from Jan. 18-27 at the Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center Theatre, 314 St. Mary St., Thibodaux. Tickets cost $20 and $15 for students. For more information, call (985) 446-1896 or visit www.thibodauxplayhouse.com.

Lauren Erwin (Corie Bratter) and Doug DeGirolamo (Paul Bratter) lock lips in the Thibodaux Playhouse’s rehearsal of “Barefoot in the Park.” The newlyweds’ personalities clash in Neil Simon’s classic romantic comedy, which takes stage Jan. 18-27 in Thibodaux.

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