Rockin’ pair cleans up at WaterTower Theatre

By Shari Goldstein Stern

The late playwright, Pulitzer Prize winner Neil Simon wrote more than 30 plays, like “The Goodbye Girl,” “Barefoot in the Park,” “Plaza Suite” and dozens of film adaptations of those. He received more combined Oscar and Tony Award nominations than any other writer. In 1965 “The Odd Couple” was Simon’s gift to live theater. 

WaterTower Theatre pays homage to the late, beloved playwright with “The Odd Couple,” running now through April 14.

The set of Friday night’s production was a total mess. Durrell Lyons’ Oscar Madison lived in the chaos. The apartment, strewn with wadded-up clothes, snack wrappers, dirty dishes and clutter, set the stage for Duke Anderson’s deliberately clumsy entrance as Felix Unger. An overwhelmed, out-of-control, suicidal neat freak, Felix had been kicked out of his house by his wife, Frances, who was demanding a divorce.

The story is about these two men who find life without their wives a G-d forsaken challenge. Laid-back ex-husband, Oscar, is a disheveled bachelor who stays behind on alimony while living a life in chaos. Oscar offers his distressed friend Felix a place to stay. Shortly after extending the invitation, he regrets his generosity big time. 

Friday’s audience appeared to agree that the pair was off-the-wall, twisted, rowdy, boisterous and ever so adorable. The pair was the yin and yang of order and good housekeeping. Oscar prefers spontaneity and letting it all hang out and couldn’t care less if his home is a train wreck, while Felix is an obsessive-compulsive neat freak who is determined to clean the apartment.

Neighbors in the building, the perky Pigeon Sisters, Gwendolyn, played by Kenzie Henderson and Cecily, played by Sarah Perkins, come to Oscar’s and Felix’s apartment for dinner. The women’s forced English accents are grating on the nerves. It might have been better to cast two English women, or to drop the accent altogether. The characters could not have been any more annoying with their high-pitched voices and constant giggle. If director Ashley Puckett Gonzales was looking for that, she got it.

Anderson is corny, slapstick, pathetic, hilarious and ideal in the role of Felix. You could watch his lithe, agile, waving, pretzel-bending physicality and rubber-like, expressive facial movements topped with huge, wide-open eyes all evening and enjoy every minute of it.

It was impossible to miss Lyons’ (as Oscar) over-the-top swagger throughout the show as his exquisite, hyper-muscular form crossed the stage. He explained that the exaggerated movements are to mirror those of the 1960s when the story is set. According to the actor, today’s swagger moves are more subtle and toned down. 

“The Odd Couple” will play through April 14 at the WaterTower Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre, 15650 Addison Road, in Addison.

For information and tickets, visit watertowertheatre.org or call 972-450-6232.