UPDATE: Patricia Snear unexpectedly dropped out of the fall play. Megan Priebe will take the lead role of Florence Ungar in place of Snear and freshman Emily Adams will take over for Priebe’s previous role.
“When you’re right, you’re right!” Brian Stewart shouts as the cast of The Odd Couple rehearses for the fall play, which will run October 14-16 in the auditorium.
Eighty two students showed up for auditions on August 29th and 30th and only sixteen were chosen for the cast. Ms. Ray, theater teacher and director of the play, has full confidence in her students this year.
“I haven’t produced this play in a long time and it’s a very recognizable play,” Ms. Ray said. “So I’m excited about it. Plus, I love Neil Simon.”
The Odd Couple started out as a Broadway play by Neil Simon and later transferred into a popular film and television series, perhaps the original version of modern Two and a Half Men’s inspiration. In this comical play, the newly divorced Felix Ungar finds a new home with his best friend, Oscar Madison. Felix is a nitpicky, clean freak while Oscar is very casual and messy. The performance is an inside view of two polar opposite friends attempting to live together and the resulting comical chaos that audiences love.
“My favorite scene is in the beginning when Oscar and Felix are alone together and you can easily see the comparisons between the two,” Lauren Daniels, Assistant Director, said. “It’s funny to see how feminist Felix is and how manly Oscar is.”
Neil Simon produced not only a male version of The Odd Couple, staring Felix Ungar and Oscar Madison, but also a female version of a play with Florence Ungar and Olive Madison. Both versions are being performed this fall. Brian Stewart plays Felix in the male version of the play while Joe Grismore plays Oscar. Patricia Snear plays Florence and Kristen Kemper plays Olive in the female version. These students all have expert acting skills and work together very well on stage, thus setting Ms. Ray’s and the rest of the school’s high expectations for a great, comical play this fall.
“Rehearsals are a joy,” Megan Priebe, who is playing the part of Sylvie, said. “Memorizing comes naturally to me, but this will take a good amount of time to learn.”
Right now, the cast and back stage crew is working on blocking, or movements and characterizations in the play. The actors run through the script and learn their places and cues. At this point, the performers learn their lines as they are continuously going through the script to find their spots, so dialogue is becoming a big part of after school practices.
Ms. Ray hopes that the identifiable name of the play will bring in an audience and the humor of the characters and situations will keep them more than entertained. Tickets will sell the week of the play for $8.
