Since its 1965 Broadway debut, Neil Simon’s classic “The Odd Couple” has been reimagined many times — as a film, a five-year TV series, a TV cartoon, a stage version led by two women, a TV series led by two African-American men, and a rebooted TV series in 2015.
Kicking off its 93rd season, Playcrafters Barn Theatre in Moline presents a new twist on the beloved old chestnut (Feb. 18-20 and 25-27) — a Black and white Felix and Oscar, among an eight-member cast with three actors of color. The first-time director is Teresa A. Moore, an African-American woman who played a lead role in 2018’s “Proposals” at Playcrafters. That 1997 Neil Simon play was his 30th Broadway production, but his first featuring a major Black role.
“I fell in love with the story by watching the television series, and I also enjoyed seeing the movie,” Moore said Monday of “Odd Couple” — which starred Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau in the 1968 film and Tony Randall and Jack Klugman in the 1970-75 TV series.
The story opens as a group of friends are in the midst of their weekly poker game in the apartment of divorced sportswriter, Oscar Madison (played by Matthau and Klugman). And if the mess is any indication, it’s no wonder that his wife left him.
The last to arrive is Felix Ungar (played by Lemmon and Randall), who has just been thrown out by his wife. Felix is depressed and seems suicidal, leading Oscar to invite Felix to be his roommate. But the two men are like oil and water – Oscar is fun-loving, sociable, sloppy, and lazy; Felix is a shy, stay-at-home, obsessive-compulsive neat freak.
The final straw occurs when Felix refuses to follow through with a double-date Oscar has set up with the beautiful Pigeon sisters, who live in the same apartment building. When a clean freak and a slob come to blows, can friendship survive?
The new cast features Matt Walsh, Bettendorf, as Oscar and JD Wilson, Davenport, as Felix, plus Kendall Burnett, Moline; Tom Akers, Cambridge; Sharon Cumberbach, Davenport; Joe Ubaitis, Moline; Nichole Collins Payney, Rock Island, and Anna Kronenberger, Bettendorf.
In this era of heightened sensitivity to diversity, equity and inclusion, Playcrafters specifically sought Moore to direct, and she purposefully sought a diverse cast — including hiring African-American women to play Speed (a traditional male role as a poker buddie) and one of the British Pigeon sisters.
Singing praises of diversity
“I’ve always thought that theater should be diverse,” Moore said Monday, noting auditions were in early December. “That’s why I was so excited when I got the invitation to direct the play, I wanted to do something different…It’s working out really well.”
“What I looked at when everyone came to audition, they were amazing actors. I wasn’t looking at color,” the director said. “I was looking at their ability to act.”
The character clash of the personalities of Felix and Oscar is at heart an exploration of their deep bond and friendship. “I don’t think the color of the person matters,” Moore said.
“They have such chemistry — Matt Walsh is an unbelievable actor, and this is JD’s first time on stage,” she said. “Just to watch him grow is great, and Matt is such a strong actor. He was surprised, JD is handling everything so well. They’re both very committed.”
Moore also cast Sharon Cumberbach as Speed simply because she was the best for the part.
“In all honesty, Speed was a smaller role, and I didn’t want to tamper with the script too much. Speed is really a feisty person, and it fits a woman quite well.”
And Nichole Payney, who is Black, and Anna Kronenberger, who is white, are ideal as the sisters.
“What I really appreciate about Anna and Nichole, they just hit it off. It was just amazing,” Moore said. “Their accents matched up, and it was just a match made in theater heaven.” Despite the diverse cast, the setting is not modernized, remaining in the 1960s, the director said.
“I would say the interactions between the characters just make it what works,” Payney said of the new production. “The chemistry, it is something I can’t really describe. It is something you have to witness for yourself. But in a world where everything has been divided so much in Black and White, it is nice to see the camaraderie of people.”
“I am super excited to be a part of this show because it is not just a typical Black play, but a true integrated cast,” Payney said, noting it’s laugh-out-loud funny.
She was among about 45 people (fewer than 10 of whom were people of color) to attend an October community forum on how to improve diversity in QC theater, hosted by Music Guild. It was attended by those representing leadership of a handful of local theaters – Music Guild, Spotlight, Playcrafters, Black Box and Richmond Hill.
One focus of Guild’s strategic plan is increasing the level of meaningful and sustained outreach to diverse populations within the community.
Passionate about theater
Moore graduated from the University of Iowa, with a bachelor’s in theatre arts in 2011. She has multiple years of onstage experience, including performing in community theater lead roles in August Wilson’s “Fences” and Dan Goggin’s “Nunsense.”
She has also worked on such productions as “Misalliance,” “Tattoo Girl” and “Landless” at the University of Iowa. In 2005, Moore had a small role in the film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston’s “The Gilded Six Bit,” as well as multiple roles in local films through the Urban Exposure film program.
In addition to playing the housekeeper role in Playcrafters’ “Proposals,” Moore performed in the two-woman “Marie and Rosetta” on the Moline stage in 2019.
Resident of the QC for 13 years, Moore is the President/CEO of I AM Productions, a small entertainment company that she started in 2003 in Indiana, which includes producing original plays, talent promotion and book publishing. I AM Productions has performed original plays in Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Iowa. She currently serves as a director on the Quad City Arts board.
Of the total of Playcrafters’ eight productions for 2022, four are being directed by people of color and two by people who identify as LGBTQ. Six of the eight directors are women.
“The Odd Couple” will open Friday, Feb. 18 and run two weekends. Performances will begin at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and a 3 p.m. matinee on Sundays. Doors open one hour prior to the show.
Tickets are $15 ($13 for military and seniors), available HERE or by calling 309-762-0330 to make a reservation. Tickets will also be for sale at the door (while available). All audience members must wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status, and actors will wear clear face masks. Front rows on the sides of the stage will be unoccupied.
