The Star-Spangled Girl

The Star-Spangled Girl is a comedy written by Neil Simon. The play is set in San Francisco in the 1960s.

The Star-Spangled Girl opened on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre on December 21, 1966 and closed on August 5, 1967 after 261 performances. The original cast featured Anthony Perkins as Andy, Richard Benjamin as Norman and Connie Stevens as Sophie. The scenic design was by Oliver Smith, the lighting was by Jean Rosenthal and the costumes were by Ann Roth.

The production was directed by playwright George Axelrod.

In an interview, Neil Simon was asked whether The Star-Spangled Girl would have been better with direction by Mike Nichols. Simon replied: "Yes. He would have given the actors a different attitude; we would have gone much more for reality than the superficial comedy that came out. That's not to knock George Axelrod....He couldn't do it because he was busy with 'Virginia Woolf' but it isn't true that he advised me not to do it; as a matter of fact he came to Philadelphia, and he liked it. He gave me some advice on it which helped."

The story is a love triangle, mixed with politics. Andy and Norman are radicals who barely make a living working on their magazine, Fallout, which is dedicated to fighting "the system" in America. Sophie, a former Olympic swimmer, is an all-American, Southern girl who moves into the apartment next door. It's love at first sight (or, as the play has it, first smell) for Norman, but his feelings are not reciprocated. Norman's obsession with Sophie makes Andy hire her just to keep the magazine going. Then Sophie falls for Andy, though they are at odds politically, threatening to destroy the magazine and the men's friendship

The play was inspired by a political argument Simon witnessed between liberal writer Paddy Chayefsky and a conservative woman. While it features Simon's lively comic style—still on display on Broadway in Barefoot in the Park and The Odd Couple when The Star-Spangled Girl debuted—it was not well received.

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