Trivia

The original Broadway play opened in 1983 and ran for more than 3 years and 1,299 performances. The 2009 revival was a huge flop and ran for only 9 performances.

This film was made and released about three years after its source play of the same name by Neil Simon was first performed in 1983. The original Broadway production of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" opened at the Alvin Theater on 27th March 1983 and transferred to the 46th Street Theatre on 26th February 1985. The play ran for a total of 1299 performances closing on 11th May 1986. The play was nominated for three 1983 Tony Awards, Best Featured Actress in a Play (Elizabeth Franz) and two for Best Featured Actor - Zeljko Ivanek and Matthew Broderick, with Broderick being the only successful actor to win. The New York Drama Critics Circle awarded "Brighton Beach Memoirs" the Best Play of its season. The play's setting is described in its intro as being "Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York. September, late 1930s".

Matthew Broderick, who won a Tony Award for playing Eugene Morris Jerome on Broadway, was not available for the film version due to his commitment to Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986). Broderick later played Eugene in the film version of Biloxi Blues (1988). Jonathan Silverman, who plays Eugene in this film, had taken over the role for Broderick in the Broadway runs of "Brighton Beach Memoirs" and "Biloxi Blues." Silverman later played Eugene in the original Broadway production of "Broadway Bound," the third play in the trilogy. For the Broadway Bound (1992), Silverman played Stanley Jerome, Eugene's older brother, while Corey Parker played Eugene. Parker had also played Arnold Epstein, an Army buddy of Eugene's, alongside Broderick, in the film version of Biloxi Blues (1988).

The film takes place in 1937.

Neil Simon's play premiered in 1983, the year he and Marsha Mason separated and divorced.

Jason Alexander: one of the men in the pool hall who con Stanley. On Broadway, he played Stanley in the sequel, 'Broadway Bound.'