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With Broadway’s recent revival of one of Neil Simon’s earliest, “Barefoot in the Park,” having closed just a few weeks ago, I figured it was probably time to review the piece. I was elated when I learned that “Barefoot” was returning to Broadway, as it’s one of my favorite plays. I was a bit less enthusiastic about the star attached to the project, Amanda Peet, but I figured that there was still a chance things would be salvaged. After all, Amanda Peet is a professional, paid actress — perhaps I was just severely underestimating her. Then again, I gave Rosario Dawson the benefit of the doubt before last year’s “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” and that was a mistake. Acting talent (or lack thereof) aside, I figured that the show was still bound to be amazing. After all, “Barefoot” is one of America’s most produced plays — and with good reason, too. The show is hilarious.

So, when offered free tickets to go see the show from the “ticket lady,” who comes to visit my school on a regular basis, I jumped at the chance.

Sitting in the Cort Theatre, I started to get a bit excited. I had recently become a fan of Patrick Wilson’s work in “The Full Monty,” thanks to the song “Big-Ass Rock,” and was also eager to see Tony Robers’ work in person. I was a bit skeptical about the floral designs on the curtain, which were meant to be reminiscent of the 60’s, but I figured it just tied in with the graphic design for the show, and shrugged it off. When the 60’s pop music began as the curtain rose, I got a little bit worried.

My last acting teacher, Jackie Bartone, taught us that you need to engage your audience in the opening moment of a scene, or you’ll lose them. With this in mind, I was completely baffled when Amanda Peet sat on stage for about five minutes, with no dialogue, doing practically nothing. It was during this extended silence that I realized how valuable Jackie’s lesson was. In acting school, it’s often said that you learn more from bad theatre than you do from good. If that’s the case, the rest of “Barefoot in the Park” was an encyclopedia’s worth of knowledge.

Unfortunately, I was right about Amanda Peet. Sucked… big time. Not only is she a terrible actress, she has no training in voice and speech, and had to practically shout every one of her lines in order to be heard on the Broadway stage. Due to the shouting, every one of her lines was delivered with the exact same inflection — making her dull and monotonous. That’s actually one of the qualities I’d look for if I were casting a show — monotonous. Wonderful.

Ms. Peet wasn’t the only to disappoint, however… Jill Clayburgh and Tony Roberts did their fair share, as well. The interactions between their characters have potential to be side-splittingly hilarious, but this was not to be in the new incarnation of “Barefoot”. Tony Roberts was especially disappointing, bringing almost nothing original (or, particularly important in a comedy — funny) to the role.

There was one redeeming quality to this “Barefoot in the Park,” however, and his name is Patrick Wilson. Just when this production made you feel compelled to run through the exit and throw yourself out in traffic to spare yourself from the terrible acting and direction, Patrick Wilson hit the stage and, in Superman-like fashion, saved the day… actually brining humor to this otherwise dry abomination disguised as professional theatre. Thank God for whoever cast him in this produciton… as he managed to make the other actors on stage look good (and that includes Amanda Peet*).

*- it should be noted that, while he managed to make Amanda Peet look better, nobody’s a miracle worker