[NEohioPAL] Berko review: THE ODD COUPLE (Porthouse)

[Roy Berko]

‘ODD COUPLE’ delights at
Porthouse!
 
Roy Berko
 
(Member, American Theatre Critics Association)
 
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Neil Simon, author of ‘THE ODD COUPLE,’ which is now on
stage at Porthouse Theatre, is known as the Crown Prince of Broadway
Comedies.  He authored 33 shows
that appeared on the Great White way, with the first, ‘COME BLOW YOUR HORN,’
opening in 1961.  Since then, he
has garnered seventeen Tony nominations and won three. He won the Pulitzer
Prize for ‘LOST IN YONKERS.’ 
Historically, Simon set a
record in 1966 when he had four shows running on Broadway at the same time: ‘Sweet Charity,’ ‘The Star-Spangled
Girl,’ ‘The Odd Couple,’ and‘Barefoot in the
Park.’ 
‘The
Odd Couple’was not only a Broadway hit, but
became a successful film,  television series, and animated cartoon.  There was also a female version of the script.  
The plot concerns two mismatched adult male roommates, one
neat and uptight (Felix), the other more easygoing but slovenly (Oscar). 
The original show, directed
by Mike Nichols, ran for 966
performances and won several Tony Awards,
including Best Play.
Well known stars who have
been seen in the various versions include Tony Randall, Jack Klugman, Walter
Matthau, Jack Lemon, Martin Short, Matthew Broderick, Nathan Lane, Art Carney, Sally Struthers and Rita
Moreno.
The success of the play is
also one of the weaknesses of putting it on a theatre’s production
schedule.  Because of its
popularity, it has been done extensively by summer stock, community theatres and
educational institutions.  It’s
been staged to death.  In the last
several months, for example, it’s been performed at least three times in the
Cleveland area.
So are audience’s tired of
the show?  From the reaction of the
opening night assemblage at Porthouse, the answer must be no.  Well, it may be yes, but the Porthouse
production, under the adept direction of Rohn Thomas, and a stellar cast, could
make a staged reading of the telephone book appealing.  
Thomas pulls out all the
stops.  He combines the comedy
lines with farce shticks, making the production hilarious.  There are the Keystone cops, Abbott and
Costello, and the Marx Brothers rolled into one.  Think of the speed and exaggeration of British farce
complete with door slamming, a chaotic race through multiple swinging doors, a
plate of spaghetti (excuse me, linguini)  splattering on a wall, and over done angst, and you have a picture of
the goings on.  
This is one of the best
productions of the script I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen a lot of
them.
Eric van Baars is nothing
short of hysterical as Felix, the up-tight, hypochondriacal, drama queen.  It’s not only fun to watch him in
action, but since he is on the theatre faculty at Kent State, and many of his
students were present on opening night, it was a hoot to see his cherubs,
watching their mentor appropriately making a total fool of himself.  
John Woodson gives his own
take to the role of slovenly Oscar.  He doesn’t overdo it the way that others have.  His underplay makes van Baars’ out-of-control Felix even
funnier.
Elizabeth Ann Townsend and
Katherine Burke are delightful as the Pigeon sisters, the odd couple’s British
neighbors.  Their squealing,
laughing and feigning were right on target.
The rest of the cast, Paul
Floriano (Speed), Chuck Richie (Murray), Tony Zanoni (Roy), and Arthur Wise
(Vinnie) are all character right.  Richie displays wonderful comic timing.
Things went so well on
opening night that even the set changing crew got applause on their exits.
CAPSULE
JUDGMENT:  ‘THE ODD COUPLE’ has
been performed and performed, but few, if any of those productions, compares to
the wonderful version appearing on the Porthouse stage.  If you want to laugh and laugh a summer
evening away, get thee to the theatre on the grounds of Blossom.
 
‘ODD COUPLE” runs until July
18  at Porthouse Theatre .  For tickets call 330-672-3884 or go
online to www.porthousetheatre.com.
  ‘ANNIE GET YOUR GUN,’ the
theatre’s next offering runs from July 23 to August 9. 

 Roy Berko's blog, which contains theatre and dance reviews from 2001 through 2009, as well as his consulting and publications information, can be found at http://royberko.info

His reviews can also be found on www.coolcleveland.com and NeOHIOpal (to subscribe visit http://mailman.listserve.com/listmanager/listinfo/neohiopal.)