The Sunshine Boys

About the show

The play's protagonists are Al Lewis and Willie Clark. Lewis and Clark were once a successful vaudevillian comedy duo known as the Sunshine Boys. During the later years of their 43-year run, animosity between the partners grew to the point where they ceased to speak with each other. Eleven years prior to the events of the play, Al retired from show business, leaving Willie struggling to keep his career afloat. Willie, now an old man struggling with memory loss, reluctantly accepts an offer from his nephew Ben, a talent agent, to reunite with Al for a CBS special on the history of comedy. Willie and Al meet in Willie's apartment to rehearse their classic doctor and tax collector sketch. The reunion gets off to a bad start, with the two getting into heated arguments over various aspects of the performance. However, thanks to the urging of Al's daughter, the two decide to go through with the performance. Willie and Al's dress rehearsal at CBS' studio is derailed by Al's aggressive habit of poking Willie's chest with his index finger and spitting at him every time he says a word that has a "T" in it. One of the running gags in "The Sunshine Boys" involves Willie's resentment over having been constantly poked in the chest by his partner's all‐too‐emphatic forefinger in the course of their countless routines on stage. Willie cries, "I had a black and blue hole in my chest. He gave me the finger for 43 years!" As Al walks off the stage in regret, Willie has a heart attack as a result of his agitated state. Two weeks later, Willie is recovering under the care of a nurse. Upon Ben's recommendation, he decides to move into an actors' retirement home in New Jersey. Al, concerned about Willie's well-being, makes a visit. When the two talk, it is revealed that Al will be moving into the same home as Willie. Neil Simon was inspired by two venerable vaudeville teams. The longevity of "Lewis and Clark" was inspired by Smith and Dale who, unlike their theatrical counterparts, were inseparable lifelong friends. The undercurrent of backstage hostility between "Lewis and Clark" was inspired by the team of Gallagher and Shean, who were successful professionally but argumentative personally. Other sources say this is based on Weber and Fields.