Alhambra's 'I Ought to be in Pictures' is a reminder of how good a playwright Neil Simon is

"I Ought to be in Pictures," first produced on Broadway in 1980, is not one of Neil Simon's better known plays, overshadowed by his early hits "Barefoot in the Park" and "The Odd Couple" as well as his later triumphs such as the Eugene trilogy and the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Lost in Yonkers."

But "I Ought to be in Pictures" is a very good play, one that has plenty of laughs but is also thoughtful and moving. It is given a really good production at the Alhambra Theatre & Dining.

Richard Karn, familiar as Al from "Home Improvement," plays Herb Tuckers, a commitment-phobic screenwriter wracked with guilt that he hides with self-deprecating wit.

He's blocked in his work and blocked in his life, unable to write, unwilling to commit to his girlfriend Steffy and haunted by his decision to abandon his wife and two young children 16 years earlier.

Then 19-year-old Libby, the daughter he last saw when she was 3, arrives in Herb's living room. She's says she's there to get his help launching her career as an actress. But her motives are far more complex.

In a role that's very different from what we've seen him do in the past, Karn is terrific as Herb, sad and angry and in desperate flight from himself.

Chloe Golden, a Los Angeles-based actress who performed at the Alhambra in "Hairspray" and "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers," brings an eccentric tomboy charm to the role of Libby, the abandoned daughter who is torn between a longing to embrace her father and a desire to punish him.

Lisa Valdini, who 30 years ago played the role of Libby in director Tod Booth's first Alhambra production, is, as usual, excellent, this time as Steffy.

Simon, who is 86 and hasn't produced a new play in a decade, has always been slightly underrated critically, probably because so many of his plays are laugh-out-loud funny. "I Ought to be in Pictures" is sometimes laugh out loud funny as well. But it's also quite moving, a reminder that Simon is good for more than just a few laughs.

Charlie Patton: (904) 359-4413