Owing to her harsh childhood, she has always been very intolerant of what in others she calls "weaknesses". He vas always dot vay...I buried a husband and two children und I didn't cry. Lost in yonkers. Jay urges him that they have to be on good behavior because their dad needs to take the job so he can pay back his debts. Eddie: Jay's middle-aged father. Finally, the Lost In Yonkers script is here for all you quotes spouting fans of the Neil Simon movie starring Richard Dreyfuss and Mercedes Ruehl. LOST IN YONKERS GRANDMA. But how can this be, since they are surrounded by family members, enclosed within the walls of their father's childhood home? A then The play takes place in the sparsely furnished living and dining rooms of Grandma Kurnitz’s apartment above Kurnitz’s Kandy Store in Yonkers, New York. A comical amount of pressure is put on the young teens, Arty and Jay, which adds dramatic tension and comedy to the proceedings. Additionally, Bella reacts emotionally to her mother's sternness. In the summer of 1942, two young boys are sent to stay with their stern grandmother and their childlike aunt in Yonkers, New York. Where Grandma is cold-hearted, unaffectionate, and undeniably "adult," Bella is sweet to the point of obliviousness, trapped in a perpetual childhood. Lost in Yonkers is not autobiographical, and Grandma Kurnitz does not have to be German to be a victim of anti-Semitism. In the letter, Eddie tells them he's developed an irregular heartbeat and the doctor told him not to travel, but that he's going to anyway. (SHE turns quickly, looks towards her room.) She scolds Jay for having cried, asks them bluntly which one is smarter, and is vigilant about making sure that the boys will be clean and well-behaved. Simon & Schuster, 1998, … When Grandma is done admonishing him, Eddie stands up to her, assenting that he was always a crybaby, but insisting that his late wife, Evelyn, did not turn him away from his mother, but only turned him towards "loving...caring...holding someone when they needed holding." Immediately, she launches into a monologue about why she doesn't want them to live with her, that she doesn't like to talk and she works every day, and that they will not be happy there. Did you steal from me? Lost in Yonkers (Original, Play, Comedy, Broadway) opened in New York City Feb 21, 1991 and played through Jan 3, 1993. Their father sends them to live with their Grandma Kurnitz while he travels. Their father Eddie is a recent widower, his wife Evelyn having died three months earlier after a battle with cancer. Sep 16, 2011. Grandma tell you tink live vit her for l' m an Old to don't t like in my Six children once. She goes on to say that ever since Eddie married the boys' mother, they never came around and that she turned them all against her. He tells them that he's convinced Grandma, even though she was unsure about it, and that they have to be on their best behavior when Grandma comes out to talk to them. Was that where Simon got that part of Lost in Yonkers. Scene 3. She reluctantly agrees after a threat by Bella. Particularly, the boys' anticipation of meeting with Grandma takes on a pressurized and doomed quality when their father tells them that they have to impress her so she will let them live with her. Grandma, whom Eddie has avoided visiting and w… He is hiding out from Hollywood Harry, who wants what Louie stole and is hiding in his small black bag. History Lost in Yonkers was first presented by Emanuel Azenberg at The Center for the Performing Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on December 31, 1990. He insists on the "and a half". She then asks them who is the smarter of the two, and Arty says that Jay gets good grades and he is better at sports. She tells them that Johnny has a learning handicap like her, and that they plan to open a restaurant together. The protagonist, Bella is a beat or three off but has a good heart and a lot of guts. Summaries In the summer of 1942, two young boys are sent to stay with their stern grandmother and their childlike aunt in Yonkers, New York. "I'm going to break something. Also, today at 2pm, Monday at 6.30pm and Wednesday at 11am. Despite their Grandma owning and operating a candy store, Jay and Arty don't like their new living situation as they're afraid of their Grandma, and find it difficult to relate to their crazy Aunt Bella, whose slow mental state is manifested by perpetual excitability and a short attention span, which outwardly comes across as a childlike demeanor. Quickly, the audience realizes that the rift between her and her progeny is about her immigrant temperment, having lived through so much. She immediately notices that Jay has been crying and tells him, "Big boys shouldn't cry." Showing all 2 items Jump to: ... Jay and Arty (who their Grandma call by their full given names, Yakob and Arthur), can live with her and their Aunt Bella Kurnitz in Yonkers. Artie is 13 and Jay 15.Their mother has died and their father Eddie needs to earn some money to pay a loan shark the money he borrowed to pay the hospital bills for his wife who died of cancer. GRANDMA is so sharp she can smell the salt licked off […] Into their collective lives returns one of Eddie and Bella's other siblings, Louie Kurnitz, a henchman for some gangsters. Monologue from Lost in Yonkers Grandma Kurnitz (pg 35-36) You haff no place else to go. Character description, analysis and casting breakdown for Grandma Kurnitz from Lost in Yonkers Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Bella's beau Johnny, an unseen character in the play, was portrayed by David Strathairn. LOST IN YONKERS GRANDMA. Her husband, Eddie Kurnitz, needs to take a job as a traveling salesman to pay off the medical bills incurred, and decides to ask his stern and straight talking mother, from whom he is slightly estranged, if his two early-teen sons, Jay and Arty (who their Grandma insists on calling by their full given names, Jacob and Arthur, which she pronounces "Yakob" and "Artur"), can live with her and their Aunt Bella Kurnitz in Yonkers. A revival of “Lost in Yonkers” at the Beckett Theater is warmly satisfying, with a depth of character, humanity and personal investment. Neil Simon's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning coming-of-age memory play, set in Yonkers in 1942, is a tale of family dysfunction at its best. Eddie goes back into the bedroom and the boys fret about the possibility of Grandma saying "Yes," strategizing about how they might be able to convince their father not to leave them with her. Having caught a glimpse of just how whacky and inconsistent their extended family is, the audience already has a sense of why Arty and Jay would not want to be left behind, and the cause of their anxiety is clear. The play premiered at The Center for the Performing Arts in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on December 31, 1990, then moved to Broadway at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on February 21, 1991, where it ran for 780 performances and 11 previews. They beg their father not to make them stay there, but he insists that it's for the best while he's gone. 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Simon adapted his play for a 1993 feature film directed by Martha Coolidge, and starring Brad Stoll as Jay. He shows his honesty when he first meets grandma answering the question for the reason he wants to live there he says, "...because we have no place else to go." Characters (all images based on cast of 1993 film) Arthur (Arty) Kurnitz Pictured on the left, Arty started his journey at thirteen and a half. Eddie is one of Grandma Kurnitz’s sons, father to Jay and Arty, and brother to Louie, Bella, and Gert. In Neil Simon’s Lost in Yonkers, two young boys, Jay and Arty, are sent to live with their grandmother in 1942 after their mother dies and their father, Eddie, must take a traveling job to sell scrap metal in order to pay the family’s medical debts. In Lost in Yonkers, laughter is a medicine, a respite from the... Arty and Jay are the main characters in Part I. Arty: Jay's younger brother, he is 13 "and a half" years old. Her most noticeable issue is that when she breathes she has a tendency to suck in while still speaking, as a result of trauma instilled in her by Mother, from a young age. Bella: Jay's thirty-five-year-old aunt. Lost in Yonkers is a terrific exemple of a dramatic Neil Simon. The boys are left to contend with Grandma, with Bella and her secret romance, and with Louie, her brother, a small-time hoodlum in a strange new world called Yonkers. As the boys scramble to think of reasons why they shouldn't stay—"I'm dangerous, Pop," offers the 13-year-old Arty—the audience is meant to see the humor in their desperation, their terror at being left alone with their vindictive Grandma and their flakey Aunt Bella. BELLA. After the death of his wife, he is forced to send his two sons to live with their grandmother, while he repays his large financial debts. Lost in Yonkers study guide contains a biography of Neil Simon, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. (SHE turns quickly, looks towards her room.) Their desperate father, Eddie, works as a traveling salesman to pay off debts incurred following the death of his wife. And although it’s set in the summer of 1942, Lost in Yonkers still comes across as stinging and contemporary. Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Lost in Yonkers study guide. I recall that Louie tells her to forget about Johnny and grandma doesn't approve. She asks the boys to keep her secret, then tells them that she wants to call the restaurant "La Bella Johnny." The scene ends with everyone else in shock, while Bella beams in excitement. According to the title of the work, Jay and Arty are "lost" in Yonkers. 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