By Cindy Whitehair and Perry Whitehair
There are some names in theater that define their genre – for dance, it’s Bob Fosse. For musical theater, it’s Andrew Lloyd Weber. For comedies, it’s Neil Simon and the Simon play that everyone knows best is The Odd Couple. The Odd Couple is the story of two friends, Oscar Madison and Felix Unger, who become roommates after Felix’s wife throws him out after filing for divorce. Centerpoint Legacy Theatre’s The Odd Couple takes a classic that everyone knows – mostly because of the television series (starring Jack Klugman and Tony Randall) – and makes it fun all over again.
Oscar Madison (played beautifully by Rusty Bringhurst) is a crusty, sloppy, poker playing sports reporter. Felix Ungar (played by Patrick Harris) is a neurotic, slightly whiny news writer who was OCD before OCD was cool. These two opposites end up bringing out the best in each other while simultaneously driving each other certifiably insane. They are friends who understand each other better than anyone else – for better or for worse.
There are not enough superlatives to describe how well the two leads brought out the dichotomy that is New York (Bronx versus Manhattan, downtown versus the financial district) and pulled the audience into their world and their lives. Rusty’s naturally expressive acting style (not to mention the physicality that he brings to a role) was matched nicely by Patrick in every scene. In many scenes, more was said with a raised eyebrow or a 3-count expression change. These two were a treat to watch play off of one another.
The rest of the gang, Murray the police office (played by Rob McArthur), Speed (Jason Unruh), Vinnie (Mark Green) and Oscar’s accountant Roy (Christopher Kennedy) are pulled along on the roller coaster ride that is Felix and Oscar sharing an apartment. They want to be (at times) mere bystanders, because bystanders aren’t involved in the drama and there are times when they want to want to kill Felix and Oscar themselves. However, in the end, the friends all pull together to be there for one another. Throw in a pair the British sisters from upstairs (Katie Plott and Sunny Bringhurst) and the chaos is complete.
The chemistry of this cast is what made this show. The sychronicity of the cast made the show shine and much of that has to do with the brilliant direction of Eric Jensen. In his director’s notes, he talks about how much he loves Simon as a playwright and this show in particular and it shows in every scene. And while you don’t necessarily expect this show to be “physical,”, but he made great use of his leads’ physicality. One cast member (after the show) said that they didn’t learn blocking for this show as much as they learned choreography. Jensen took the talents of his cast and pulled them together to create an artistic vision that made this show well worth the audience members’ time.
Jay Clark’s sound and light design were lovely. As a child of the ’60s/’70’s walking into the theater to the strains of Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass was like walking back into my childhood. Jennie Richardson’s costumes were perfect for the era. Perry loved the NY Met’s “Bat Boy” T-shirt. He said it was absolutely perfect for Oscar as a sportswriter. I was more taken with authenticity of the props – a real coup for Raquel Davis.
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The set design overall was wonderfully a 1960’s bachelor pad – clothing strewn everywhere, empty pizza boxes littering the room and the remains on the last poker game still on the table. The only thing I would have done differently had to do with the typewriter and the desk. They were tucked into a niche created by the scenery meeting the wall of the space. The wall was black so the black desk and black typewriter pretty much disappeared into the niche. Given that both Felix and Oscar are writers by trade, I would have either done something different with that black wall or moved the typewriter more center.
Centerpoint’s Leishman Performance Hall was a perfect space for this American classic. Its clean lines and open space helps you feel like you are in an “eight room apartment” in New York.
Start your summer off right. Go see The Odd Couple.
CenterPoint Legacy Theatre’s Leishman Performance Hall presents The Odd Couple. Performances are Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday nights at 7 PM. Tickets are $15.00 and can be purchased at the box office 801-298-1302 or online http://centerpointtheatre.tix.com/Schedule.aspx?OrgNum=3197&ActCode=97803
Centerpoint Legacy Theatre
525 N 400 W
Centerville UT, 84014
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