"Odd Couple" Closes Flush with Laughs

Posted by Bruce Miller

We closed The Odd Couple today to a sold-out house, a theatre full of laughter, and a standing ovation. Congratulations and thanks to all involved.

We had three shows running simultaneously this summer--a first for us. Into the Woods, Disney's High School Musical and The Odd Couple. All three shows were hits, with lots of sold out performances. All three ended on a high note.

As soon as the house lights came up after Odd Couple curtain call, Joe Pabst (the director) and I scurried onto the stage to begin collecting the props we had lent to the production. As soon as the audience cleared, Jeff Clevenger (Speed), Jennifer Frank (Gwendolyn Pigeon) and Dave Bridgewater (Oscar Madison) joined us. Seems that over the years we’ve all learned the same valuable lesson. When you lend a prop to a show, be sure to claim it immediately after the final curtain call, or expect never to see it again.
Somewhere there’s a black hole that contains all the props that are routinely sucked into it approximately 60 minutes after each show ends. These props are destined to remain missing forever. It’s one of the laws of stage physics. I guarantee you that anyone who comes looking for props tomorrow will walk away empty handed. I’ve never figured out where the props go, but they go somewhere. And they go very quickly.

Jeannie Kilgore, who’s been subbing for stage manager Joseph Papa this week, warned me that one of the tin coffee mugs went missing in action this week, before the show even closed. It seems that Scott threw it down the hall one night, as Felix is supposed to, midway through Act II. The mug has never been heard from since. Seems Scotty’s got a great pitching arm. And the black hole was waiting, like a catcher, just offstage, behind home plate. Go Red Sox!

Jeannie also apologized for her faux pas during last night’s curtain speech, dutifully performed by Phil Whiteway. Phil and his family headed off to Nags Head today. Since he knew he’d be missing the final performance, he attended last night to personally thank our outstanding cast and crew.

Whenever Phil shows up at the theatre, he feels honor bound to make a curtain speech. God bless him for it. I HATE making curtain speeches, and more times than not, I ignore my responsibilities (opportunities?) and remain silent. Phil is far more responsible than I. He knows that making curtain speeches is an important component of our efforts to raise funds and sell tickets. So he selflessly mounts the stage, time after time, exercising due diligence for himself and also for me.

Anyway, as his pre-show welcoming speech was drawing to a close, Jeannie Kilgore was pushing buttons in the booth, preparing for the first sound cue (pre-show music) that she intended to start as soon as Phil finished. But, Jeannie, as I said earlier, is only filling in for Joseph Papa, and didn’t know exactly which button was which. So just as Phil was on his last two or three sentences, Jeannie hit the button that started a particularly loud rendition of the second sound cue—a exuberant toilet flush coming from off stage right. Phil apparently played it to the hilt and graciously allowed himself to be flushed off stage. The audience laughed uproariously. Jeannie was mortified.

At least we now know how to end Phil’s curtain speeches and still get a robust first laugh for the show.

Thanks again to everyone who made The Odd Couple such a hit. You couldn’t have been more Odd, and we appreciate it.

--Bruce Miller

NPR offers XOXOXO to "The O C"

It took a while, but the National Public Radio review of The Odd Couple at Hanover Tavern is in, and it’s another rave! The O C runs for only four more weeks—it’s gotta close on August 19 so that we can load in Deathtrap. It’s great to see a 40-year old play come so beautifully to life—a true American classic in the making. Don’t miss it. For a good time, call 282-2620, and make your reservations TODAY!

Here are a few highlights from John Porter’s review:

“Writing a review of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, now playing at Barksdale Hanover Tavern, is a relatively simple task. I’ve just got to find ways to say, 'It’s brilliant' for the next three minutes or so.

First of all, there’s the script. This is one of Simon’s early works that shows just how much of an American genius he really is. The dialogue sparks like an electric live wire and it gives the actors a broad canvas on which to paint their characters.”

“Then there’s the cast. How do you go wrong with two very strong leads who are on the top of their game? David Bridgewater is delightful as the king-sized larger than life slob known as Oscar Madison. He feels free to let loose with an over-the-top performance that breathes new life into one of the premiere characters of the American comedy stage. His partner in crime, the always strong Scott Wichmann, is just about dead-on perfect as uberneat Felix Unger.”

“The supporting cast includes a mix of well-known performers and new faces. The veterans include Steve Moore, Jeff Clevenger, Jennifer Frank and Jen Meharg, who all turn in strong performances.”

“On the technical side, the costumes by Heather Hogg evoke the early sixties very well. No, nobody is dressed up in tie-dyed bell bottoms, this was a different class altogether. The set by Terrie Powers and David Powers has a nice touch with autographed sports pictures on Oscar’s walls, lending credence to the proper era and telling us a little bit more about his character at the same time. The lighting design is by Bennett J. Fidlow and adds well to the evening.

Director Joe Pabst shows a deft touch with Simon’s dialogue. On the surface it can seem deceptively simple, but like Shakespeare or Mamet, Simon’s words have a distinct ebb and flow. If it’s not played just right, forget it, the whole thing comes crashing down like a house of cards.

In this case, the house stays up and rocks with laughter all night long.”

“I can always use more laughter in my life, and an evening of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple, may just be the perfect way to pass a summer’s night.”

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It would be hard to beat a review like that! Insider’s Tip: Scott Wichmann and his wife Jen Meharg will be out of the show from August 8 through 12, replaced by the wonderful Richard Koch and his wife Vickie McLeod. Then Scott and Jen will be back for closing week. So if you’re a big fan of either couple, be sure to catch the show during the week they’ll be playing. Or if you're a fan of both couples ... come see it twice!

--Bruce Miller

"The O C" Knocks 'Em Dead at Tavern

The first review is in (Sunday, July 1, Richmond T-D) and The Odd Couple is a smash hit!

“Hilarious!” raves Susie Haubenstock in this morning’s newspaper. “Neil Simon’s beloved 1965 play still has the ring of truth. Barksdale Theatre’s second Hanover Tavern season validates their premise: classic comedies and mysteries are reliable crowd-pleasers. No playwright is more trustworthy than Neil Simon. And no Neil Simon play is more foolproof than The Odd Couple.”

If this iconic masterpiece of good humor is in fact foolproof, that’s a good thing, because we surely have a passel of fools working their hindquarters off on this production. Divine fools, to be sure. Fools who, like Neil Simon, have the ability to see what is true in life, and then make merciless fun out of it.

If you can’t laugh at life’s ups and downs, what can you do? The Odd Couple, as everyone in the English-speaking world must know by now, is about two men who are recently divorced, who decide to move in together and immediately begin to drive each other crazy. Both men are lemons, but leave it to Neil Simon to make lemonade.

“Scott Wichmann is great as always,” praises Haubenstock, “with the combination of physical comedy and neurotic dialogue, and his ear-clearing snorts are unlike any other sounds made by man.”

“Bridgewater plays Oscar as a sort of combination Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton from ‘The Honeymooners.’ His quiet moments on the phone with his ex-wife are as believable as his air-freshener attack on Felix.”

Rounding out our lunatic cast are four exceptional poker buddies – Jeff Clevenger, Steve Moore, Mark Persinger and Derek Phipps – and two delightfully ditzy British coquettes – Jennifer Frank and Jen Meharg.
“The four poker buddies are totally convincing,” continues Haubenstock in her hit-making assessment, “especially Jeff Clevenger, who speaks with the music of Brooklyn. The Pigeon sisters are wacky and hysterical. Gwendolyn (Jennifer Frank) is especially alarming in her scary bouffant wig, and it’s fun to see Jen Meharg, Wichmann’s wife, play Cecily opposite him.”

With additional kudos going to Joe Pabst for his expert direction, Terrie Powers and David Powers for their well designed set, and Heather Hogg for her magnificent ‘60s costumes, the T-D review is glowing to say the least.

But Haubenstock reserves her biggest praise for Neil Simon himself, and justifiably so. “It’s no accident that this play has spawned a hit movie, a TV series and numerous adaptations over the years—it’s a modern classic. Pabst’s program note suggests that Simon will eventually join George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart in the American comedy pantheon, and surely he’s right about that.”

“The American comedy pantheon.” You can’t beat a review like that.

Congratulations to all involved. And if you don’t have your tickets yet for this summer-long fun fest, please call our box office today.

Bridgewater and Wichmann to Star as Felix and Oscar

The most hilarious mismatched roommates in the history of Broadway comedy are coming back to Hanover Tavern in this brand new production of one of America's favorite comedies. Directed by Joe Pabst (last seen at Barksdale in Brooklyn Boy), The Odd Couple will open June 29 and run through August 12, with extension probable.

And who will be filling Felix's shiny wingtips and Oscar's grubby sneakers? None other than Barksdale and Theatre IV All-Stars (and audience favorites) Dave Bridgewater (last seen at the Tavern in Over the River and Through the Woods) and Scott Wichmann (last seen as the Cowardly Lion in Theatre IV's The Wizard of Oz).

Other cast members include the two delectible Pigeon sisters (Jennifer Frank and Jen Meharg) and the four poker-playing buddies (Jeff Clevinger, Steve Moore, Mark Persinger and Derek Phipps). All indications are that The Odd Couple is going to sell out fast, so please call the box office to make your reservations TODAY!

Last produced by Barksdale in 1973, Neil Simon's irrestibly funny play tells the story of two friends (one divorced and the other recently separated) who decide to share an apartment … with sidesplitting results. Don't miss the sheer pleasure of rediscovering all over again the reasons we all first fell for this rousing American classic.