The spotlight is on Neil Simon's popular romantic comedy about a newlywed couple adjusting to life together after their honeymoon in The Theatre Factory's next production, “Barefoot in the Park.”

The play ran on Broadway from 1963 to 1967 with Robert Redford in the role of Paul Bratter, a newlywed being portrayed at Theatre Factory by Jeremy Kuharcik. He and Natalie Spanner as his wife, Corie, are testing the choppy waters of their first experiences as a couple.

Paul is a conservative lawyer, described as cautious in life and love, while Corie is a free spirit who loves the idea of “running barefoot in the park.”

In the same way that Paul is dealing with challenges in his new role, Kuharcik is confronting his own differences in becoming his character.

“The biggest challenge in playing Paul is stripping away as much of Jeremy as I can,” he says. “This character isn't in my normal bag-of-tricks; a lot of my roles have been developed with a strong connection to my own background and life.”

He says audience members who know him personally usually can recognize him in the characters he plays, but not in this production.

“It's usually fun to incorporate a little ‘Jeremy' into the characters, but Paul is completely different from me, so I have to transform mentally and through physicality into a completely different person,” Kuharcik says.

His most recent stage credits involve musicals, playing Billy Flynn in “Chicago,” Sheriff Ed Earl Dodd in “Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and King Triton in “The Little Mermaid.”

“I've never performed in a straight play before and knew this would be a great venue to risk trying something new,” he says.

Paul Reynolds of North Huntingdon directs “Barefoot in the Park” and says it is a great show with a talented cast assembled to tell the story. He has a master's degree in fine arts from Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts, where he is an adjunct professor.

“There are always challenges you face whenever you choose a project, especially Neil Simon,” he says. “But at the same time, the beauty of Simon is in the words. There are so many subtleties in a dramatic comedy like this one that the biggest challenge is not missing all of the wonderful moments that are given to you by the author.”

Before moving to the Pittsburgh area, Reynolds worked as production manager, stage manager and actor for Reagle Musical Theatre of Greater Boston. He also worked on TV, film and theater productions in Los Angeles and New York. His work includes TV appearances in “George Lopez,” “Norm,” and “Good Morning Miami,” and two movies, “Striptease” and “Daddy Day Care.”

The cast of “Barefoot in the Park” also includes Linda Stayer, Dennis “Chip” Kerr and Stephen Toth.

Candy Williams is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.

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