Neil Simon’s 1965 comedy about two mismatched roommates is spring-loaded with one-line zingers, and they’re so good that the play – at least in the capable hands of director James Gruessing, his actors, and the Norris Theatre – never seems outdated. True, Simon is somewhat of a comfort food that seems tailor-made for community theater (as we saw recently with “Barefoot in the Park” at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse), but no one can say that he isn’t a master of his craft.
The story is simple enough. Oscar Madison (Nick Santa Maria) is divorced and has a spacious apartment on Riverside Drive in New York City where he and his friends gather for poker once a week. Although the latter have supporting roles that don’t necessitate a lot of stage time, in this case they are all believably cast: There’s Murray, the overweight cop (Jason Sluyter); the gruff and sarcastic Speed (Craig Mitchell); Oscar’s accountant Roy (David Diestel); and the nerdy, mild-mannered Vinnie (Jason M. Hammond – whose picture in the program has him looking like a stand-in for Ben Affleck).
When their pal Felix Ungar (Larry Raben) fails to show up, they’re concerned. And when they learn he’s been kicked out of his home by his wife, they fear that he may have done something drastic.
I know, this doesn’t sound like a comedy so far, but Simon can thread the camel’s eye of some very crucial human emotions and make us smile and laugh, even though we’d be shedding copious tear if we were in the same boat as Felix – and Raben is quite good at depicting him moping about in self-pity.
Oscar opens his heart, or at least his home, and Felix moves in. That’s where the trouble starts, where instead it should be ending: Oscar, as we can see, simply by scanning the littered stage, is inherently messy; Felix, as they say, is a neatness freak. He’s so neat, in fact, that when the poker pals arrive the following week they’re no longer comfortable in such a sanitized setting.
The crisis rises to a new level when, to assuage his friend’s misery, Oscar arranges a double date with two young and attractive British sisters who live upstairs, Cecily (Rachel Scott) and Gwendolyn Pigeon (Sara J. Stuckey). As their last name suggests, they do a lot of cooing over poor Felix. How this plays out provides an amusing finish and flourish to what is a fast-paced, nicely acted, and – once more – finely directed show.
The Odd Couple plays Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in the Norris Theatre, 27570 Norris Center Drive (formerly Crossfield), Rolling Hills Estates. Tickets, $38. Closes Sunday. (310) 544-0403 or go to norriscenter.com. ER
