Olean Community Theatre, Inc. - Season 29
Neil Simon at his funniest
and most enduring...
THE ODD COUPLE
directed by Minna Badanes
October 10, 11, 12, 2008
Portville Central School Aud.
We all know the story of this Broadway, film, and TV classic: Compulsive neatnik Felix Unger is thrown out of his house by his divorce-bound wife. He wanders aimlessly through the streets of New York, toying with the idea of suicide, before gravitating to the apartment of his best friend, incorrigibly sloppy sportswriter Oscar Madison.
Worried that Felix will try something desperate, Oscar, himself in the process of being divorced by his wife, invites Felix to move in with him. Within a few days, this mismatched pair is on the verge of mutual murder: Felix cannot abide Oscar's slovenliness, while Oscar is driven insane by Felix's obsession with cleanliness. A potentially passionate evening with Oscar's neighbors, the "coo-coo" Pigeon sisters is ruined when Felix, ruminating over his wife and children, reduces the two ladies to remorseful tears.
Pushed to the brink, Oscar stalks around the apartment making as big a mess as possible. Comes the next week's poker game, and the previously vengeful Oscar is worried that Felix might have attempted to do away with himself again. Instead, a surprisingly self-confident Felix shows up to collect his belongings, then announces that he's temporarily moving upstairs with the toothsome Pigeon sisters!
There's a laugh a second in Neil Simon's hit Broadway play. A foolproof comic situation (allegedly based on a chapter in the life of Simon's brother Danny) is kept alive and healthy by some of the funniest dialogue ever written.
The Odd Couple staring Art Carney and Walter Matthau on Broadway and later with Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the film version, was adapted into a long-running TV sitcom starring Tony Randall and Jack Klugman. Don't miss this classic!
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Ticketing Services Provided by
THE CAST
Steve Spry - Oscar
Nathan Bell - Felix
David Coatney - Murray
William Steffen - Speed
Eric VanDruff - Roy
Michael Schott - Vinnie
Patricia Howden - Gwendolyn
Jeri Lynn Clark - Cecily
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Carla Campbell - producer
Minna Badanes - director
Ken Roberts - technical director
Kathy Malick - stage manager
