The Odd Couple

I'm Isa Goldberg reporting on THE ODD COUPLE

Eons ago, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall did more to enhance the everyday world than a group of guys known as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy could ever imagine. In those days, bringing laughter and camaraderie into our homes meant more than free ideas about interior decorating. It would be difficult to bring back those pleasures.

So, watching this revival of Neil Simon's THE ODD COUPLE with Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick is a bit of a letdown. As played in this Broadway revival the antics between Oscar – the comfortable slovenly sports writer and Felix, his obsessive compulsive roommate, feels artificial.

These days 2 professional men in their forties don't live together unless they're lovers. As the story is anachronistic, Joe Mantello has directed the production with a camp sense of 50's ennui from Felix's Electrolux vacuum cleaner which is attached like a prosthetic limb, to Roy's chain smoking, another incessant behavior. As Roy, Peter Frechette brings an unconscious swagger to the bachelor accountant that swings with both centuries, but doesn't bring a lot of reality to the play's ongoing life – a poker game.

Bringing it over the top, Matthew Broderick's Felix is a cartoonish character with a strained little voice. His namby pamby behavior is enough to drive anyone crazy. As well it does. Nathan Lane's Oscar, on the other hand, is driven to such fits of violence and rage that he is no longer comic.

Clearly Neil Simon revivals are the season's comfort food with BAREFOOT IN THE PARK (opening in February) whose cast will star Jill Clayburgh and Tony Roberts, Amanda Peet and Patrick Wilson.

That’s This Week on Broadway. I’m Isa Goldberg.