Matthew and Nathan may alternate roles in THE ODD COUPLE

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 8:35am

According to the Post. Nothing is set in stone about it happening and even if it did, there would be no set schedule. But there is a chance that they will both play both roles during the run of the revival. What do we all think?

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 8:45am

I think it is a great idea. I was disappointed that Nathan was cast as Oscar and Matthew as Felix. Too stereotypical. Kinda lika Max and Leo take an apartment together. At least this mixes it up a bit and makes it more interesting.

[Lamc16]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 8:58am

Genius! When they announced the casting of these two my dad and I both agreed that they could easily switch on and off. Reminds me of John C. Reilly and Philip Seymour Hoffman in "True West."

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:15am

As usual Reidel is a day late and a dollar short. This is VERY old news and all of his article is sprinkled with 'may do this' and are 'talking about doing that'...so he's telling us something we already know was discussed and not adding any new news.

I would love to see them switch roles but not telling the audience when might be a problem if an audience member buys a ticket expecting to see Lane play Oscar and shows up to find that he is playing Felix. I know this aspect of this was also discussed before, so I won't beat it to death.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:17am

Can you really see people getting annoyed because they're not playing the right role on the night they attend? I would love to see how the box office would handle that particular hissy fit.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:40am

samiam is right. this has been talk ever since the first day they announced the revival (over a year now)... but i have to disagree and think that most of the public would probably take delight if they thought they were going in to see lane as oscar and broderick as felix only to find out they were switching roles for the night. i'm sure this would make the audience laugh even more and they would enjoy it immensely. i think they definitely should do it. and set a schedule much like the millenium approaches/perestroika schedule:

mon: lane-oscar/broderick-felix
tue: lane-felix/broderick-oscar
wed matinee: lane-oscar/broderick-felix
wed evening: lane-felix/broderick-oscar
thu: lane-oscar/broderick-felix
fri: lane-felix/broderick-oscar
sat matinee: lane-oscar/broderick-felix
sat evening: lane-felix/broderick-oscar

that would be my ideal schedule.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:49am

Well I must have had my head buried in the sand as this is the first I heard of the possible switcheroo.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 9:52am

I think it's fabulous. But those ticket prices are making me ill.

[wendy72]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 10:14am

I agree--more people would be disappointed to not see the leads, vs. who's in the role..that's how I felt when I saw "The Producers" 3 weeks after it opened and Nathan was out. Brad Oscar was terrific, though!

[baddadnpa]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 10:22am

I bought tickets for $100 each - what is the beef with ticket prices?

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 10:25am

I'm not even gonna say how much my dad paid for our tickets...

I had no idea until he told me a couple weeks ago - and my jaw literally dropped.

~Jessica

[HeartinNYC]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 11:12am

Yes, Broadway ticket prices are way out of sight. But so is everything else. It wasn't that long ago that you could buy a home for $60,000. Now that same house is going for $300,000. *sigh*

I still have my ticket stub from "A Chorus Line" in 1975: $11.50, front row mezzanine. Gone are the days! I think Nathan and Matthew are absolutely worth the $100, even though that IS a lot of money, relatively speaking.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 12:38pm

I don't have a problem with the $100, lord knows I've paid it before. The article states:

TicketsNow.com, a clearing house used by ticket brokers around the country, is offering seats in the first row of the theater on opening night, Oct. 4, for $970 a pop. Mezzanine seats are going for $220.

Weekend performances are about $800, and for the April 2 final performance, orchestra seats are $1,140.

If those prices are too rich for your blood, Azenberg says single tickets in the orchestra can be had here and there for the regular price: $100.

$800? That was me going to college for a part time semester, not sitting in a theatre for 2 hours.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 12:45pm

I think it is silly. What are they gonna do? Have critics come 2 nights?

[Gothampc]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 12:45pm

Sorry but I do not see Matthew Broderick being able to play Oscar Madison. It's just not in him.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 7/1/05 at 1:40pm

apdarcey

It's a good thing your ideal schedule is what the producers are looking for...

[SamIAm]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 10:14am

I would not have a problem with them switching roles in fact I thought it was a great idea when Lane first mentioned it. But I have spoken to some people who said that if they spent money to see the OC and were envisioning Lane doing Madison and he wasn't doing that role, they would be pretty ticked off.

So...everyone is a little different. As of the last time I heard this rumored, the word was that not everyone was wild about the idea of having the actors learn 2 roles with such a short rehearsal schedule. They only have a month to previews.

We'll see what they decide. I, for one, was somewhat disappointed with the casting of supporting roles and thought they could have done better to support the leads but I'm still looking forward to the show.

[Kicks8567]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 10:49am

Does anyone think they will have SRO?

[Mamie]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:04am

I think it's a terrific idea although it means I'd have to go twice to a show I can't afford to see once.

[pab]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:16am

If someone is dumb enough to pay $800 for a ticket when they can get one for $100 what can be said about that?

As for the switching roles, I don't see that happening.

[cabarethed]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:21am

Right, but when the few $100 ones are snatched up immediately, you kinda don't have another choice. Looks like I better be fast or just suffer not seeing them again. I saw their return to The Producers and loved it, but I knew it just wasn't the same.

[ProducersFan]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:35am

It's very hard to find a ticket for $100, especially now after the AmEx pre-sale. My father went on Telecharge the very first day of the presale, right when tickets were first sold, and could find NOTHING for $100 for the dates we wanted.

It's not that people are dumb enough to pay $800 when there's a $100 ticket to be had - it's that they're aren't any $100 tickets left so the $800 becomes the only option if you really want to see the show.

~Jessica

[TheHawke]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:41am

I saw on 'All That Chat' a proposal for Rob Bartlett to play Oscar and Brad Garret to play Felix.

Of course they wouldn't sell as many 250 dollar seats.

Well, maybe Brad Garret.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 11:42am

I have some doubts about Matthew being quick enough to learn both roles. I don't see that as a problem for Lane.

I ultimately feel that this is too interesting an idea to really come to pass. It potentially causes a lot of problems for ticket buyers who paid top dollar to see a very specific casting choice.

[Thesbijean]

Posted: 7/2/05 at 2:36pm

By the way, the tckets are on TICKETMASTER, and for AMEX presales, not all tickets are on sale. They allocate a certain number of tix throughout the theatre.
Updated On: 7/2/05 at 02:36 PM