PRESS RELEASE: Concord, CA.  February 19, 2008 – As the second offering of its 2008 main stage season, the Willows Theatre Company is pleased to present Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, the noted playwright’s hilarious semi-autobiographical portrait of an American family in the 1930s as seen through the eyes of a 15-year-old boy.  Eugene Jerome is an aspiring writer and baseball player whose adolescent insights about his family, the Great Depression, and growing up are alternately hysterical and touching.  Brighton Beach Memoirs opened on Broadway on March 27, 1983, at the Alvin Theatre (renamed after Simon three months later), where it ran for nearly two years before transferring to the 46th Street Theatre to complete its 1,299-performance run. The production garnered Tony awards for Best Featured Actor (Matthew Broderick) and Best Direction (Gene Saks), and a New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.  Directed by Willows Theatre Producing Artistic Director Richard Elliott, Brighton Beach Memoirs begins previews on March 17, 2008, at Concord’s Willows Theatre, 1975 Diamond Blvd.  Opening night is Friday, March 21, with performances continuing through April 20, 2008. <more>