#1
Posted: 10/21/05 at 1:01am
I saw this play on Wednesday October 19th. Since a week won't help this lemon, I figured I'd let the cat out of the bag before it opens. Yes... it really is that awful! First of all the play is dated and Neil Simon should update it, or he should ban it from being produced for another forty years so it can become a statement of the 60's. The original was funny. The actors were terrific. It held your attention. Do not expect this 2005 lemon to do the same. Everyone in the theatre was fidgeting. It was very smart of the Director (if there was a Director present for this mess) to perform this version with two act breaks, because if there were the three that it was written with, the only audience these performers would be playing to would be relatives. Attention Directors: Putting retro furniture on the stage is not ample reason for us to believe that what transpires in front of us... is taking place in the 60's. I want to know where Oscar lives because I never heard a car horn with all those open windows.
Nathan Lane is surprisingly good as Oscar. If any of you have had the opportunity to see Nathan Lane eating at Sardis, or anywhere else around town, he always appears to be the most miserable working actor on Broadway. Yet, get him on a stage, and he really does shine. His, Oscar is always belivable, likeable, and doesn't ever feel like a copy of those that came before him. Mathew Broderick on the other hand is aboslutely horrendous. Someone should rip him right off the stage and put Brad Garrett in his place. First of all you can not even hear Broderick, who it appears, is trying to channel Tony Randall, but somehow ended up getting one of the stooges. And not the funny one. One of the ones that has been turned into a zombie from Dawn of the Dead. Felix Unger IS anal-retentive. It's just not funny watching someone try to play an impersonation of an actor playing anal-retentive. Broderick obviously is not a method actor (not that that is always a good thing)just a cartoonish actor. You can just see him connecting A move to B move to C move. If I wanted to torture myself to prove the point, all I would have to do is go back and see the show the following evening, and I would bet you that Nathan Lane would give a great solid performance with a different twist, and we would watch Broderick perform the same sad tricks night after night. I'd bet big money and put my own money where my mouth is that I could do better with three days of rehearsal. His performance truly is that embarrassing.
Can't you just see the glee in the eyes of the producers when they put these two actors together again. All of them counting their money. Instant Trillionaires. Box office records. Tickets should be available soon. And if you have them, sell them to the idiots who are paying $1000 and laugh all the way to the bank because you won't be laughing during this production.
If the producers of this mess had any sense they would have realized that Garrett would have made a much better Felix. It's against type. Ever heard of that guys? Tryi it sometime. To see Garrett standing next to Nathan Lane is well... just funny to start with. Put an apron on him and you have an instant hit. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. He's an actor who actually understands comedic timing. Plays like "The Producers" and "Spamalot" are over the top comedys. The Odd Couple is a serious comedy. It is only funny when it is played seriously. I don't know what's up with Broadway Comedy these days, but it's becoming cartoonish. The rest of the cast is subpar. None of the poker players stand out, as a matter of fact two of them are down right terrible. One can barely talk he's straining his voice so much. I'll let you guess which one it is. The Pidgeon Sisters are sadly just okay, but once again, this is just so dated it's ridiculous. Who are these Pidgeon Sisters? It's hard to blame the actresses. However, they laugh because they are supposed to laugh. They cry because they are supposed to cry. Neither one stands out from the other.
If you want my opinion ...
RUN, don't walk and buy tickets to "DOUBT" which I saw the following evening. If you are going to spend $100 on a ticket see how the pros do it and enjoy some real theatre. Although it is a drama, there are some really funny moments, and unlike the Odd Couple, all of them are intentional.
Nathan Lane is surprisingly good as Oscar. If any of you have had the opportunity to see Nathan Lane eating at Sardis, or anywhere else around town, he always appears to be the most miserable working actor on Broadway. Yet, get him on a stage, and he really does shine. His, Oscar is always belivable, likeable, and doesn't ever feel like a copy of those that came before him. Mathew Broderick on the other hand is aboslutely horrendous. Someone should rip him right off the stage and put Brad Garrett in his place. First of all you can not even hear Broderick, who it appears, is trying to channel Tony Randall, but somehow ended up getting one of the stooges. And not the funny one. One of the ones that has been turned into a zombie from Dawn of the Dead. Felix Unger IS anal-retentive. It's just not funny watching someone try to play an impersonation of an actor playing anal-retentive. Broderick obviously is not a method actor (not that that is always a good thing)just a cartoonish actor. You can just see him connecting A move to B move to C move. If I wanted to torture myself to prove the point, all I would have to do is go back and see the show the following evening, and I would bet you that Nathan Lane would give a great solid performance with a different twist, and we would watch Broderick perform the same sad tricks night after night. I'd bet big money and put my own money where my mouth is that I could do better with three days of rehearsal. His performance truly is that embarrassing.
Can't you just see the glee in the eyes of the producers when they put these two actors together again. All of them counting their money. Instant Trillionaires. Box office records. Tickets should be available soon. And if you have them, sell them to the idiots who are paying $1000 and laugh all the way to the bank because you won't be laughing during this production.
If the producers of this mess had any sense they would have realized that Garrett would have made a much better Felix. It's against type. Ever heard of that guys? Tryi it sometime. To see Garrett standing next to Nathan Lane is well... just funny to start with. Put an apron on him and you have an instant hit. It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out. He's an actor who actually understands comedic timing. Plays like "The Producers" and "Spamalot" are over the top comedys. The Odd Couple is a serious comedy. It is only funny when it is played seriously. I don't know what's up with Broadway Comedy these days, but it's becoming cartoonish. The rest of the cast is subpar. None of the poker players stand out, as a matter of fact two of them are down right terrible. One can barely talk he's straining his voice so much. I'll let you guess which one it is. The Pidgeon Sisters are sadly just okay, but once again, this is just so dated it's ridiculous. Who are these Pidgeon Sisters? It's hard to blame the actresses. However, they laugh because they are supposed to laugh. They cry because they are supposed to cry. Neither one stands out from the other.
If you want my opinion ...
RUN, don't walk and buy tickets to "DOUBT" which I saw the following evening. If you are going to spend $100 on a ticket see how the pros do it and enjoy some real theatre. Although it is a drama, there are some really funny moments, and unlike the Odd Couple, all of them are intentional.
Updated On: 10/30/05 at 01:01 AM
