Arizona Jewish Theatre Company's The Odd Couple--Female Version at The Herberger Theatre Stage West
(out of 
)Mark S.P. Turvin
(home office) (602) 912-0117
I can be reached for comment via e-mail at: mspt@goldfishpublishers.com
Reviewed 1/2/99
(out of )Neil Simon is an American theatre legend, with a catalogue of over 30 plays that reads like a Top American Comedies list. One of his most successful plays was the trademark The Odd Couple, which opened in 1966 and was one of the plays he wrote that year that established him as a Broadway landmark. During the early '80s, he returned to this work to create a Female Version of this show, which I saw during its original run. Many critics wondered at the point of changing an established plays' leads from men to women, but it did enjoy a fair-to-middling run, mainly on the reputations of the actresses in the show.
And now Arizona Jewish Theatre
Company has decided to give the gals an equal shot, producing
this show and all of its opposite sex innuendoes and mismatched
roommates jokes. And while the script is not quite as funny as
the original, it definitely has more than its share of hilarity.
This production, directed by comic master Bob Sorenson,
seems to be running at eighty percent energy, though, and doesn't
contain quite as many of the belly laughs as a Neil Simon comedy
should.
The casting of the two leads in this comedy are crucial, and the
choice of valley favorites Dina Kay and Kathi Osborne
for this duo has great potential. Ms. Kay's comic timing, and
Ms. Osborne's unbridled energy could have combined to propel this
show across the apron and into the faces of the audience, but
Mr. Sorenson seems to have held Ms. Osborne back, an odd choice.
While Ms. Kay does an exceptional job of portraying the prissy
Florence Unger, naturally creating the annoying qualities of this
character in a very funny way, Ms. Osborne's over-the-top energy
is held in check while performing the perpetually sloppy and vulgar
Olive Madison. The result is a diminished amount of the built-up
tension between the two that is supposed to explode in the second
act.
As an example, instead of the silent argument between the two
at the beginning of Act II, Scene 3 being the most enjoyable moment
in the play, the scene prior, a date with Castillian brothers
played perfectly and uproariously by Steve Milo and Richard
Trujillo, becomes the central and defining comedic moment.
Though this throws off the balance of the show, it doesn't affect
the fact that this scene is highly enjoyable, and definitely worth
the price of admission.
The slightly uneven feel of the show is mirrored in the supporting
cast of women. While Susan Morrell and Shelley Alexander
give very funny performances of the prissy friend, Vera, and Mickey
the cop respectively, Toni Zobel and Katie McFadzen
are more unremarkable in their roles. They seem unable to give
the audience something to make them stand out; though, in their
defense, their roles are not as textually differentiated as the
others in the Trivial Pursuit-playing crowd.
Thom Gilseth's Scenic Design has done a very good job of
creating the messy-to-neat transformation of Olive's apartment.
Also solid is Michael J. Eddy's lighting design, though
some lighting effects subtly called attention to themselves. Bill
Osborne's sound design was flawless, even as one or two of
the cues were off. David M. Anaya, Jr.'s costumes were
generally good, although Ms. Kay's costumes did not seem as pin-point
perfect and clothes-horsey as implied by the script.
Despite Ms. Osborne's lack of a well-defined character arc for
her frustration and anger, and the cast's somewhat toned-down
energy, there are moments that sparkle in this gender-switched
comedy. Mr. Sorenson would have done a greater service to his
cast if he had allowed Ms. Osborne more emotional latitude, just
as he was able to focus on Ms. Kay's strongest points. Success
in this would have made this Odd Couple unbeatable, rather than
just simply entertaining.
Production Details:
The Odd Couple--Female Version by Neil Simon
Arizona Jewish Theatre
Company at The
Herberger Theatre Stage West, Phoenix
(602) 252-8497
December 26th, 1998 - Jaunary 10th, 1999