You can understand why so many theaters stage Neil Simon plays. They're perpetual crowd-pleasers. Simon is genius at writing tightly constructed pieces and filling them with clever lines and sympathetic characters.

The Ivoryton Playhouse's latest production is the Neil Simon comedy-drama "I Ought to Be in Pictures." Instead of "The Goodbye Girl," you could call this "The Hello Girl." A daughter hasn't seen her father for 16 years. She travels across the country, from New York to California, to see him - well, and also to try to break into showbiz. He's a screenwriter. She dreams of becoming an actress. And she wants to find out why her father left.

The Ivoryton production, which opens Wednesday, stars Mike Boland, Jeanie Rapp and Siobhan Fitzgerald. R. Bruce Connelly directs.

The 1982 movie version of "I Ought To Be in Pictures" starred Walter Matthau and Dinah Manoff as father and daughter, with Ann-Margret playing the father's girlfriend.

- KRISTINA DORSEY

"I Ought to Be in Pictures," Ivoryton Playhouse, 103 Main St., Ivoryton; opens Wed., April 23, and runs through May 11; 7:30 p.m. Wed. and Thurs., 8 p.m. Fri. and Sat., 2 p.m. Wed. and Sun.; $42 adults, $37 seniors, $20 students, $15 children; (860) 767-7318.