Boys will be boys
‘The Odd Couple’ hasn’t changed over time
By RON EHMKE
News Contributing Reviewer
8/15/2003
The Buffalo News
Ask the average stranger to recount the plot of “Hamlet” or “Macbeth” and you’re likely to be met with a blank stare. Sure, the name rings a bell, but the details are bound to be a bit hazy to folks whose exposure to theater ended with high school graduation.
Bring up “The Odd Couple,” on the other hand, and you’ll hear not only the basic premise – hardcore slob opens his apartment to newly divorced neat-freak buddy – but the names of the two main characters and maybe even a nasal honking sound effect and a shout-out to Murray the cop for good measure.
Sure, you can chalk that familiarity up to the TV series more than the stage play, but no matter: Neil Simon’s 1965 smash is the theatrical equivalent of comfort food. The ingredients are so reliable it’s hard to screw them up.
So the decision of new company Second Stage Entertainment to introduce itself to Buffalo with the adventures of Oscar and Felix says two things right off the bat: They’re eager to please and they’re not so inclined to take chances.
The first of these traits is particularly commendable. Most of the cast members appear to be fresh out of college or heading in that direction, and they’re an enthusiastic, resourceful bunch without a lick of pretense. The biggest problem with the production is that the male cast members are all at least 10 years too young for their roles as originally written. I’m not just talking about the way we’re all conditioned to expect a middle-aged Tony Randall and Jack Klugman (or, for that matter, Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau) as the protagonists; the whole story depends on our accepting that both men have been married (to women, that is) for a good long time and that each is set in his ways.
On the other hand, Gary Rodriguez still makes a believable Gen-Y Oscar, with the caustic wit and physical presence of a twentysomething Jackie Gleason. He may not be what Simon had in mind, but he brings a fresh spin to the part. Rick Lattimer’s Felix Ungar feels a little more like a caricature than a recognizable human being, but then the schtick-heavy script does call for lots of “cooking, cleaning and crying,” and Lattimer delivers like a seasoned veteran.
The poker buddies played by Mike Leszczynski, Max Phillips, Luke Wager and Chris Fire make a nice little Greek chorus, each pitched at a slightly different note. Rachel Cornish and Jenilyn Rodriguez play the giddy, giggly Pigeon sisters, whose disastrous but ultimately sweet second-act encounter with our heroes is the high point of the show.
While director Rohit Kapoor mostly plays it safe, he has made a few updates to the script (throwing in references to fax machines, Xanax and Martha Stewart). He’s also added “Friends”-style video segments (shot on location in Manhattan) as opening and closing credits and set-change diversions, complete with annoying commercial breaks, to accentuate the play’s sitcom tendencies and compensate for the Tralf’s inherent limitations as a venue for live theater.
Clever touches, but “The Odd Couple” is very much a product of a time when divorce still carried a whiff of scandal and (presumably) heterosexual men were first learning to express their emotions and acknowledge their vulnerabilities. It’s not a play for the ages and doesn’t aspire to be. In the hands of the Second Stage crew, however, it remains a reliable evening of good-humored fun.
