(Th) Brooklyn Boy (at the Biltmore Theater; Written by Donald Margulies, Directed by Daniel Sullivan) B-

(M-R) Is MTC reviving Brighton Beach Memoirs at the Biltmore? No, actually, although subscribers with a hazier recollection of Neil Simon can be forgiven for suspecting so after the first few scenes of Donald Margulies' Brooklyn Boy. Unfortunately, this is quite another cup of treacle. It's an autobiographiccal play about the author of a bestselling autobiographical novel that he insists is not autobiographical. While the pressures of fame and fortune (presumably familiar to Margulies after the undeserved Pulitzer bestowed on his Dinner with Friends) are undoubtedly annoying, can we honestly be expected to involve ourselves in a play where the great dramatic moment is a Hollywood producer's instruction to "tone down the Jewishness" in a screenplay? Autobiography can work, but only if the characters are real. Brooklyn Boy is painted with such a light brush that it borders on Lite.

(M) The Godfather (Coppola, 1972) A