Neil Simon pays visit to ‘Broadway Bound’ in Los Angeles

The audience at Sunday’s matinee performance of “Broadway Bound” at the Odyssey Theatre Ensemble in Los Angeles got a surprise visit when the play’s author -- Neil Simon -- made an appearance in the front row of the small theater where the revival production opened this month.

“Broadway Bound” is directed by actor Jason Alexander, who starred as Stanley in the original Broadway production in 1986. The current cast includes Ian Alda, Gina Hecht, Noah James, Michael Mantell, Allan Miller and Betsy Zajko.

Simon posed for a photo with the cast and also received a standing ovation from the audience. A spokeswoman for the theater said that Simon’s primary residence is in New York.

“Broadway Bound” is the third installment of Simon’s trilogy of plays devoted to the working-class Jerome family, and specifically, the wisecracking son Eugene. In “Broadway Bound,” Eugene and his brother Stanley try to make it in show business while back home, their family life is falling to pieces.

Simon, who is 87, was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Tony Award nominee for “Broadway Bound.” (He won a Pulitzer for “Lost in Yonkers” in 1991.)

“Broadway Bound” is set to run through Sept. 21 at the Odyssey.

Twitter: @DavidNgLAT