The legacy of Broadway’s “patron saint of laughter” is alive and kicking in Neil Simon’s hilarious “Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple” currently playing at Totem Pole Playhouse.
Based on the crazy chemistry that sparked between two wildly opposite personalities in the smash Broadway hit, “The Odd Couple,” in the mid 1960s, Simon updated his original script in 2002 to play to modern audiences, and “Oscar and Felix” has been staged in local and regional theaters across the country.
The tumultuous friendship that appeared onstage more than sixty years ago won numerous awards for Simon during his lifetime, including three Tonys, a Golden Globe, a Pulitzer Prize and the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. Adapted to film (1968) and the classic American TV sitcom (1970-1975) from the film; “The Odd Couple” also inspired an animated American cartoon (“The Oddball Couple”) featuring a neat-freak cat based on Felix and a carefree, fun-loving dog based on Oscar, as well as pop-culture male stereotypes.
Directed here by John Puch and produced by Producing Artistic Director Ryan B. Gibbs, the show opens to sportswriter Oscar’s messy apartment on the 12th floor overlooking upper west-side New York on Poker Night in the present day.
James Fouchard’s stationary set is chic enough to be believable as the divorced Oscar’s previous family’s modern residence and unkempt enough to symbolize their absence. The front door and entrance to the kitchen are built on multiple levels; doors stage right lead to other (unseen but referenced) parts of the apartment.
The tech (directed by Chris Russo) blends seamlessly, and eye-catching costumes (designed by Lisa Streett-Liebetrau) are consistently appropriate to each character’s personality.
Gibbs’ lights rise on Roy (played by Ricardo Frederick Evans), Speed (Sam Little), Vinnie (Catherine Blaine), Oscar (Ray Ficca) and Murray (JJ Kaczynski) who have gathered for the weekly game. One-liners and banter take off immediately as Oscar serves slightly gross refreshments in a tame beginning.
But when the friends learn through a phone call that Felix (Darren Server) is not just late but missing and possibly suicidal after being thrown out of his marriage, the comedy darkens. When Felix shows up homeless and drowning in melancholy, Oscar, who is worried about what his friend might do, invites him to move in. And a hilarious ride begins as Felix’s fastidiousness clashes with Oscar’s sloppy lifestyle.
Most of the cast and creative team have returned to Totem Pole Playhouse for this show; a few (including Ficca as Oscar and Darren Server as Felix) are Playhouse veterans.
As Gibbs mentioned in his preshow announcements on Opening Night, John Puch is the son of Totem Pole Playhouse founders Bill Putch and Jean Stapleton and has previously acted and directed there. And according to the program, Blaine — who incidentally will appear in the upcoming “Gettysburg 1863” film — has more than 25 Totem Pole shows under her belt.
In this delightful reunion of sorts, the show comes together beautifully. Chocked full of comic technique, expertly delivered one-liners and mild slapstick, the darkness of the humor barely registers beneath lighthearted laughter.
Evans is articulate as Roy, the accountant with meticulous attention to detail. Little (Speed) is sarcastic and a bit of a kibitzer, in contrast to Blaine’s (Vinnie’s) mild-mannered demeanor. And Kaczynski fits in beautifully as the sympathetic cop with a dry sense of humor.
Newcomers Torres-Rosario (Ynez) and Amadeo-Frost (Julia), the Spanish sisters who enter in Act 2, drive lovely moments of laugh-out-loud comedy with whirlwind timing.
And of course, Ficca and Server create exciting chemistry as the mismatched best friends, (a sportswriter and news writer, respectively) who embody the dynamic that opposites both attract and repel in a roommate relationship that satirizes marriage. (Oscar and Felix occasionally call each other their wives’ names in the heat of inevitable arguments.)
Server juggles Felix’s uptight OCD-themed slapstick with great presence, while Ficca manages to wax (mostly) lovable despite being an unapologetic slob. Both lead actors deliver wonderful performances.
There is much one could contemplate in the show’s underlying themes — order versus chaos, respect and ego in relationships, loneliness, compromise and navigating the wreckage of failed marriages, for instance.
But most notably, whether one is a “Felix” or an “Oscar” — or familiar or not with Simon’s original play, film, or sitcom — “Oscar and Felix: A New Look at the Odd Couple” at Totem Pole Playhouse will keep anyone in stitches.
“Oscar and Felix” (sponsored by the Drager Family) continues at Totem Pole Playhouse through July 25th at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Friday (July 24 only) and Saturdays; and 2 p.m. Sundays–Thursday and Saturdays (with the final performance on July 25 at 2 p.m.)
Tickets cost $55– $66 with a $5 service fee if purchased online at Totem Pole Playhouse. For discounted group orders of 10 or more, junior (ages 5-15) and student (ages 16-22), call the Box Office at (717) 352-2164, ext. 1.
“Oscar and Felix” is presented at Totem Pole Playhouse through special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc..
Other Production Credits: Kate Wecker (Sound Designer), Sam Sims (Video/Lighting Associate), Rachel Landon (Properties Designer), Kia Armstrong (Production Manager), Paul Millsholmes (Production Stage Manager), and Keefer Stiles (Stage Manager Assistant)
Covers/Understudies: Sofia Pellegrino (Ynez and Julia), Michael Krikorian (Roy, Speed, Vinnie, Murray), Sam Little (Oscar), and JJ Kaczynski (Felix)
Photo Caption: Ray Ficca and Darren Server are Oscar and Felix at Totem Pole Playhouse
Photo Credit: Andy Smetzer Photography
