Pure puffball

Lively actors can’t hide the fact that ‘Odd Couple’ is quaint and antiquated

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Starlight Dinner Theatre’s production of Neil Simon’s“The Odd Couple” has good production values and some fine performances,yet the overall quality of the production is uneven.

The major shortcomings can be attributed to the script.Simon had a flair for creating memorable characters who werecontemporary for their time, and he skillfully skewered social mores,shining a light on changing gender and familial roles. 

Unfortunately, what was cutting-edge social commentary in the 1960s is now simply quaint and antiquated.

Furthermore, the nostalgia value is lessened by thepacing of the script, which gets bogged down in redundant conversationsand arguments.

There are still a few chuckles left in Simon’s script,but considering that one of the biggest ones involves amisunderstanding over the letters “F.U.,” the dialogue is too simplefor modern audiences raised on the works of Quentin Tarantino, DavidMamet and Aaron Sorkin.

It is a daunting task to take on such iconic roles asOscar and Felix, whether one prefers the cinematic pairing of WalterMatthau and Jack Lemmon or the television couple of Jack Klugman andTony Randall. 

The easier task goes to the slob Oscar, who has the benefit of playing for the broad laughs.  Jack Dowd is a natural pick for the role and delivers a solid performance.

It is interesting that Dowd warms up to the role afterdoffing the iconic baseball cap, and really hits his stride as Oscarprepares for a double-date with neighbors Gwendolyn and Cecily Pigeon(Charlotte Ruppert and Angela Dill, respectively).  As Dowd prances around, slapping on Old Spice and crooning classic love songs, he owns the stage.

Oscar is definitely the better half of this couple, which makes the role of Felix (Chris Klaver) the more difficult one.  The Felix of the play is not the Felix most people remember from the television series.  This Felix is much more of an intolerable, needy, fussbudget hypochondriac. 

The challenge is to make him the least bit relatable sothat the audience can feel some amount of empathy for him. Yet Klaver’sperformance, while stylized, is so gratingly cloying and pathetic thatall empathy goes to Oscar. Klaver does, however, deliver the bestpratfall of the local theater season.

The most brilliant performances belong to Ruppert and Dill, the Pigeon sisters.  They command the stage with their bright costumes, charming Cockney accents and sunny personalities. 

Ruppert and Dill have the luxury of having the best dialogue, rife with double-entendres, which they play to the hilt.

Director Linda Granger continues the Starlight traditionof maximizing the facilities of the theater’s home in the cafeteria ofthe Waverly East Intermediate School.

Bill Woodland’s set, Jim Lorenz’s lighting, and thetechnical staff’s props are spot-on for creating the ambience of a 1965Manhattan apartment. The attention to detail is thorough, from thePabst Blue Ribbon cans and Playboy magazines to the bachelor recordcollection selected for maximum seduction value.


‘The Odd Couple’

Through Oct. 22

Starlight Dinner Theatre

Waverly East Middle School, 3131 W. Michigan Ave., Lansing

Dinner is served at 6:30 p.m., with theshow starting at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, $33 for dinner andshow; $28 for seniors and students with valid ID

$15 for show only

(517) 243-6040 

www.starlightdinnertheatre.com

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