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Performance dates: July 18 & 19, 2003- 7:30pm Performance venue: The Orpheum Theatre
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THE ODD COUPLE
Simon adapted his
play into a motion picture, which was released in 1968 with Walter Matthau
as Oscar and Jack Lemmon as Felix. The film was a box-office smash, leading
to the development of the “Odd Couple” television series, which
premiered in 1970 and ran five seasons with Jack Klugman as Oscar and
Tony Randall as Felix. In the ensuing years, “The Odd Couple”
was re-worked into a second TV series (“The New Odd Couple”,
with an African-American cast), a female version of the play (staged on
Broadway with Rita Moreno and Sally Struthers), a TV movie sequel, a film
sequel, and an updated staging of the play (“Oscar and Felix: a New
Look at the Odd Couple”). The play’s durability is a testament
to the effectiveness of its humor and the longevity of its heroes as pop
culture icons.
Jason Bailey directs.
Dan Williams is scenic designer, and Deborah Berry is costume designer. Theatre On Consignment is presenting this special summer production of “The Odd Couple” as a fund-raiser for the continuing restoration and preservation of the Orpheum, as well as for Theatre On Consignment’s 2003-2004 season. The production will will run July 18 and 19 at 7:30pm and July 20 at 2pm at Wichita’s historic Orpheum Theatre, located at 200 N. Broadway. Tickets are $10 ($5 for students and seniors), with special rates available for groups of ten or more. The play is appropriate for audiences of all ages. See stills from The Odd Couple. See backstage stills from The Odd Couple. See rehearsal stills from The Odd Couple.
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"The
Odd Couple" by Neil Simon premiered on Broadway in 1965 at the Plymouth
Theatre in New York City, starring Walter Matthau as Oscar Madison and
Art Carney as Felix Ungar. Later in the show's run, Jack Klugman took
over the role of Oscar, which he played until the show ended its Broadway
run in 1967. Simon's inspiration for the play was his brother Danny, who
was divorced and was rooming with a divorced friend, to cut expenses and
save for alimony. The roommates began to get on each other's nerves, and
Neil told his brother, also a comedy writer, that the premise would make
a great play. Danny started to write one, but later gave up and suggested
that Neil write it instead.
When
his wife leaves him, prim, finicky Felix Ungar (Nathan Boren) moves in
with his poker buddy, Oscar Madison (Mac Welch), a notorious slob. Slowly
but surely, the pair begin to drive each other crazy with their various
idiosyncrasies, and things go from bad to worse when Oscar sets up a double-date
with a pair of British sisters (Amy Grimm and Stacy Champagne). David
Bailey, Jason Miller, Robert Thomas, and Lonny Quattlebaum co-star as
Felix and Oscar’s poker buddies, who try to keep things smooth between
this combustible pair.