I Ought To Be In Pictures

Notes from the Playwright/Director

Welcome to the La Grange Area Teen Theater Ensemble’s (LATTE’s) comedy revival of Neil Simon’s, “I Ought to be in Pictures”. I deeply cherished producing and directing such a real, funny and tender show. There is so much strength, animated warmth, and vibrant innocence that my cast has embraced and claimed as their own.

This gem holds plenty of laughs, and is exceedingly thoughtful and moving. Neil Simon had the brilliance to paint the delightfully dysfunctional family dynamics with hilarity, honestly, heart, and hope.

Meet Herb, a sardonic, commitment phobic, self-sabotaging screen writer. Charismatic Herb lives in LA in “the house that guilt built”, never forgiving himself for abandoning his family thirteen years ago.

Meet Steffi, a forty year old single mom. An independent, “Enjoli” wearing woman, and Hollywood makeup artist, she has been dating Herb for two years. Steffi see’s Herbs potential and the best in him, even if she just has a commitment to see him once a week. She is the sage and support of everyone around her.  

Meet Libby, a nineteen year old, confident “force of nature” who has decided to take Hollywood by storm, and her father by surprise… the father who left her when she was three. She hitchhiked across the country from Brooklyn to LA to finally meet him and make all her dreams come true.

Put these three in the most entertaining pressure cooker you will ever find, and the raw, healing magic of the show will draw you in. As Steffi says in the play, “Sometimes it’s easier to ask for the impossible. When you ask for the possible, you can be rejected”.  I hope you enjoy the show as much I have enjoyed creating it and bringing it to life!

~ Felicia Pfluger, Producer and Artistic Director, LATTE Theater