Jason Alexander returns to ‘Broadway Bound’ as director

Before hitting it big with “Seinfeld,” Jason Alexander was a working theater actor whose Broadway credits included a lead role in Neil Simon’s “Broadway Bound.” Alexander played Stanley, one of two brothers looking to break into the world of entertainment in Simon’s sequel to the popular “Brighton Beach Memoirs.”

In August, Alexander will return to “Broadway Bound,” only this time as the director. He will direct a production of the 1986 play at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in West Los Angeles, with performances set run Aug. 2 to Sep. 21.

Alexander will direct a cast that includes Ian Alda and Noah James as brothers Eugene and Stanley Jerome. Actors Gina Hecht and Allan Miller will also star in the play, having appeared in a production last year at the La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts.

Alexander co-starred with Hecht in a production of Simon’s “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” at the El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood in 2011.

“Broadway Bound” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in drama in 1987 and was nominated for a Tony Award for new play.

The comedy is part of Simon’s trilogy of plays centering around the working-class Jerome family, and particularly its son Eugene. “Broadway Bound” followed “Brighton Beach Memoirs” and “Biloxi Blues.”

Alexander was the artistic director of the now-defunct Reprise Theatre Co. in L.A. During his tenure, he directed a number of stage musicals for the company.

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