ROGERS — While some actors grow into roles that were once played by older brothers, the Martin brothers are doing things a little differently.

Guy Martin had to grow up in order to play a role that had once belonged to his little brother.

This time the older Martin has the role of Eugene in “Broadway Bound,” one of three autobiographical plays written by Neil Simon.

“There aren’t many plays like these that span so many years,” Guy Martin said. The three plays, set in the 1940s, tell the story of a young Jewish boy and his family over the course of a decade.

Eugene grows up and embarks on a career in comedy writing, along with his older brother.

Neil Simon began his career working with his brother, Danny, but after finding some success writing for the Jackie Gleason Show, Danny Simon became a television director and Neil Simon started writing plays, according to the Web site www.notablebiographies.com.

Reed Martin was only 12 years old when he won the role of Eugene in the Rogers Little Theater production of “Brighton Beach Memoirs.” He was playing a teenager. Guy Martin was cast as his older brother, Stanley, in that first play. Guy was also younger than his character.

Kay Cotton directed both the first and the third plays in the series.

“I had Guy in mind from the beginning because of his role in ‘Brighton Beach,’” Cotton said.

‘Brighton Beach,’ she said, was the first acting experience for both brothers. “He (Guy) is just a natural.

He has a sense of how to play a role.”

The play is about an American family, so casting brothers is only natural.

Two other actors returned from the original cast. Mary Eileen Ameigh and Casey Cotton play Eugene’s mother and aunt.

‘It’s interesting to directit after directing the first one and seeing the characters grow,” she said, “It’s a good solid cast.”

Guy, who is a senior at Rogers High School, will cut his long, dark hair for the play.

“It’s going to pretty short,” he said. “I don’t mind. It’s theater - you need to look your part.”

Reed also had a haircut to be the younger Eugene in 2008. His hair has since grown out.

He didn’t have very muchadvice for his older brother, except to warn him about the monologues. One of the things that make the trilogy unique, Reed said, are the asides. The character of Eugene steps out of the action and speaks directly to the audience.

“It’s like he’s reading diary entries out loud,” he said. It’s difficult because the monologues are long and there are no other actors speaking who can offer prompts. Without the asides, the story won’t flow, he said.

During one performance, when the character was supposed to be sleeping, Reed was on stage, lying on the bed in the dark. They’d been working hard, he said, and he was exhausted. He actually fell asleep on stage. He woke up in time to begin his monologue, but half way through he came up blank.

“It was terrible,” he remembered.

“Time freezes,” Guy Martin agreed.

The boys mother, Cara Martin, works on the set as a stage manager. Although Reed isn’t usually at the rehearsals, he expects to be helping out during performances. They are, after all, a theater family.

News, Pages 1 on 11/04/2009

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