Everything you need to know about 'Plaza Suite' on Broadway, starring Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker

The real-life celebrity couple leads this revival of Neil Simon's classic farce.

Book your stay at the Hudson Theatre! The Broadway venue has transformed into the historic Plaza Hotel for the first revival of Neil Simon's Plaza Suite. During the course of three acts, three couples navigate romantic ups and downs during their respective stays in the Plaza's Suite 719. All three are played by a real-life couple with formidable talent and a rock-solid marriage: two-time Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick and Emmy-winning Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker.

The pair, who met in the theatre, are sharing the Broadway stage for the first time since How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in 1995. They first performed Plaza Suite together in Boston in 2020, but after the pandemic postponed the Broadway transfer, the show finally checked into the Hudson in February 2022. But Broderick and Parker won't be there for an extended stay — Plaza Suite only runs on Broadway through June 12. Learn all about the show's star-studded history and information about this production's venue and running time, then make your reservations for your own stay at the Plaza Suite.

Get Plaza Suite tickets on New York Theatre Guide.

What is Plaza Suite about?

Plaza Suite is a play in three acts, each of which follows a completely different set of characters dealing with various romance-related mishaps. The joining factor is that they're all staying in Suite 719 of New York's Plaza Hotel at different times. Each act is named after the town its main characters are visiting from.

The first act, "Visitor From Mamaroneck," centers on Sam and Karen Nash, a long-married couple who are falling out of love. Suite 719 was their honeymoon suite years before, and Karen plans the trip in an attempt to rekindle their romance. However, all does not go as planned, as the two end up more at odds than ever when Karen suspects that Sam is having an affair.

In the second act, "Visitor From Hollywood," movie producer Jesse Kiplinger meets with Muriel Tate, a suburban housewife who used to date Jesse. He invites Muriel to Suite 719, and she's just interested in catching up with her old friend, even though she knows he has a penchant for flirting. Jesse, true to his reputation, is hoping to seduce Muriel and repeatedly tries.

Finally, the third act, "Visitor From Forest Hills," centers on Roy and Norma Hubley, who are staying at the Plaza for their daughter Mimsey's wedding. Mimsey, scared to get married, has locked herself in the suite's bathroom and refuses to leave. Roy and Norma frantically try to get her out as the guests are arriving at the hotel for the ceremony.

Where is Plaza Suite playing?

Plaza Suite is at the Hudson Theatre. The Hudson Theatre is located at 141 West 44th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenue. It is simultaneously Broadway's oldest and newest theatre: It's the oldest because the building first opened for use in 1903. However, it stopped being used as a Broadway theatre in the 20th century and instead operated as a nightclub, movie theatre, and more, but it reopened as a Broadway theatre in 2017, making it the newest.

How long is Plaza Suite?

Plaza Suite is about 2 hours and 30 minutes, including one intermission. This is the standard running time for a Broadway show, as most run between two and three hours. Most Broadway shows also have one 15- or 20-minute intermission. It is recommended that audiences eat before the show begins.

What days is Plaza Suite playing?

Plaza Suite typically plays eight performances a week at the Hudson Theatre on Broadway. Performances run Monday to Saturday through March, and then Tuesday to Sunday from April onward. There are two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays. For the most up-to-date weekly performance schedule, please visit the Plaza Suite page on New York Theatre Guide.

When did Plaza Suite premiere?

Plaza Suite was Neil Simon's seventh play to get produced. Though the show was a success upon its 1968 premiere, it has never been revived on Broadway before now.

• Early 1968: Plaza Suite had its world-premiere productions at two New England Theatres: the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, followed by the Colonial Theatre in Boston, Massachusetts.
• February 1968: Plaza Suite opens at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre (now the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre) on February 14, 1968. The show ran until October 3, 1970, closing after 1097 performances and two previews. George C. Scott and Maureen Stapleton starred.
• October 1968: Plaza Suite launches its first national tour, starring Forrest Tucker and Betty Garrett. The tour spent nearly eight months of its year-plus run in Chicago alone and ended on February 14, 1970.
• February 2020: Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker star in Plaza Suite at Boston's Colonial Theatre. The production was supposed to transfer to Broadway in the spring but was postponed amid the pandemic.
• February 2022: The first Broadway revival of Plaza Suite begins performances at the Hudson Theatre, with Broderick and Parker reassuming the leading roles as planned pre-pandemic.

Who wrote Plaza Suite?

Neil Simon wrote Plaza Suite. Simon is the author of more than 30 plays, many of which he turned into screenplays. He won the 1991 Pulitzer Prize for his play Lost in Yonkers, and Tony Awards for Lost in Yonkers, The Odd Couple, and Biloxi Blues, along with a Lifetime Achievement Tony Award. He has received more Tony and Oscar nominations combined than any other writer, and in 1983, he became the only living playwright to have a Broadway theatre named for him. Simon died in 2018 at age 91.

Plaza Suite characters

Plaza Suite has six main characters (two per act) plus some supporting characters. Here are the principal characters of Plaza Suite and the act each appears in.

• Sam Nash: The husband of Karen Nash, he appears in Act 1. He and Karen have fallen out of love, and he's suspected to be having an affair with his secretary.
• Karen Nash: Sam's wife, seen in Act 1. She books the trip to the Plaza Hotel because she and Sam honeymooned there, and she hopes the trip will reignite the spark in their marriage.
• Jesse Kiplinger: A caddish movie producer, seen in Act 2. He invites Muriel to his suite to flirt with and hopefully seduce her.
• Muriel Tate: A housewife and an old girlfriend of Jesse's. She just thinks Jesse invited her over to catch up, and that's all she plans to do, but he has other plans.
• Roy Hubley: One half of the couple that leads Act 3. He and his wife, Norma, spend the act trying to get their daughter, Mimsey, out of the bathroom on her wedding day.
• Norma Hubley: Roy's wife and Mimsey's mother. She joins Roy in trying to get Mimsey to leave the bathroom and attend her wedding.
• Mimsey Hubley: Roy and Norma's daughter. Terrified of getting married, she's locked herself in Suite 719's bathroom just before the ceremony is about to start, and she won't leave.

What awards has Plaza Suite won?

Plaza Suite was nominated for three awards at the 1968 Tonys: Best Play, Best Direction of a Play, and Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (for Maureen Stapleton). Mike Nichols won the Best Director prize, but the Best Play award went to Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, and Stapleton lost to Zoe Caldwell in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

Major productions of Plaza Suite

Plaza Suite hasn't had too many revivals, but that doesn't mean it's not a show worth reviving. It's more like a rare gem that audiences now have an equally rare chance to discover. Here are the major productions of Plaza Suite through the years.

• 1968 world premiere: Plaza Suite's world premiere took place at the Shubert Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut. The show played the Colonial Theatre in Boston right afterward.
• 1968 Broadway premiere: The Broadway premiere of Plaza Suite ran at the Plymouth Theatre for 1,099 total performances between 1968 and 1970. This is the only Broadway production of the show before now.
• 1968 tour: Plaza Suite went on its first national tour from 1968 to 1970, coinciding with the Broadway run. The show stayed in Chicago for eight months alone.
• 1969 West Coast production: Plaza Suite's first West Coast production made stops in Los Angeles and San Francisco. The production ran for just under six months.
• 2022 Broadway revival: After a run at the Colonial Theatre, a Plaza Suite Broadway revival with Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick was planned for spring 2020. The pandemic forced a two-year postponement, but the production is back in full swing in 2022.

Onscreen adaptations of Plaza Suite

Plaza Suite has two film adaptations: one which was released in theatres in 1971, and another made for TV in 1987.

• 1971 film adaptation: Neil Simon adapted his own script into the screenplay, which Arthur Hiller directed. Walter Matthau played all three main male roles, but a different actress played each act's female lead (they were Maureen Stapleton, Barbara Harris, and Lee Grant). Simon himself ultimately said he didn't like the movie, acknowledging that having the same actor play multiple roles and setting all the action in one room worked better on stage than on screen. Some critics agreed with him, but others praised the film's comedy and performances.
• 1987 TV movie: Carol Burnett produced and starred in this Plaza Suite adaptation. She played all three female leads, but a different actor played each male lead.

Celebrities that have appeared in Plaza Suite

Plenty of celebrities have checked into Suite 719 on stage and screen since Simon penned his play in 1968. Here are the celebrities who have appeared in the various iterations of Plaza Suite.

• Matthew Broderick: Broderick stars in the 2022 Plaza Suite revival alongside his real-life spouse, Sarah Jessica Parker. The pair had previously performed the show in Boston. He is a stage-acting veteran, with over a dozen Broadway credits and two Tony Awards.
• Sarah Jessica Parker: Parker also leads the 2022 revival of Plaza Suite after performing the show with Broderick in Boston. She has also starred on and off Broadway in shows like Once Upon a Mattress, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (opposite Broderick), and more.
• Carol Burnett: The Carol Burnett Show host and trailblazing comedienne played all three female roles in a Plaza Suite TV movie in 1987. She has appeared on Broadway six times, beginning with Once Upon a Mattress as Princess Winnifred (a role Parker later assumed in a revival).
• Walter Matthau: Oscar-winning film actor starred in the 1971 film adaptation of Plaza Suite as all three male leads. He previously won a Tony for originating the role of Oscar Madison in another Simon play, The Odd Couple, on Broadway in 1965.
• Maureen Stapleton: Stapleton originated the female roles in Plaza Suite on Broadway and later starred as Karen Nash in the 1971 film adaptation. She has won the "Triple Crown of Acting," with an Oscar, Emmy, and two Tony Awards to her name, as well as a Golden Globe Award and a BAFTA Award.

Fun facts about Plaza Suite

A suite so famous must have plenty of history. Check out these Plaza Suite fun facts before you check into the theatre for the show.

• Plaza Suite played only two preview performances on Broadway before its official opening night. Even with pre-Broadway engagements in other theatres, shows usually stay in Broadway previews for weeks to make changes and tighten up. Plaza Suite got good reviews, so the shortened preview time didn't hurt it after all.
• The Colonial Theatre in Boston was home to one of Plaza Suite's premiere productions back in 1968 before the show hit Broadway. More than 50 years later, that same theatre played host to the pre-Broadway run of the 2022 revival.
• Neil Simon originally wrote a fourth act for Plaza Suite. He cut it during pre-production, but he eventually expanded and adapted the act into its own movie, The Out-of-Towners, in 1970. The movie is about a couple traveling from Ohio to New York City's Waldorf Astoria hotel, and they encounter every imaginable mishap during their trip.
• Two real-life married couples have starred as the Plaza Suite couples together. Larry Parks and Betty Garrett led a bus-and-truck tour of the show from 1970-1971, and now Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick lead the Broadway revival.

How to get Plaza Suite tickets

Whether you're a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick or simply love romantic comedies, you'll enjoy the vacation from daily life that Plaza Suite has to offer, along with plenty of laughs. Reserve your stay at the Hudson Theatre for Plaza Suite before there's no vacancy.

Plaza Suite tickets are available now. Get tickets to Plaza Suite on New York Theatre Guide today.