odd couples oscar and felix lovable as ever economist suntribune may 31 1989 c21 neil simon is the holiday inn of jjjnner theatre audiences wary of surprises know theyll get their moneys worth from his witty oneliners and likeable characters and so weve had a rash of simon in recent months deer park inns current production of his proven crowdpleaser the odd couple is the fourth of his popular comedies to be staged locally since january and if its not quite as polished as deer parks admirable last of the red hot lovers a couple of years ago its the best of the re- cent crop o direction here is by the sure rland deft hand of teri hallatt and this odd couple is firmly an- cdhored in the experienced profes sionalism of paul saunders and stephen day ji saunders a master of simons speech rhythms and tim- jing is not quite at his best here as gscar madison his second best is still funny and assured vbut he seems to have developed an unfortunate man nerism of late perhaps a carry over from his concurrent role in murder at the howard johnsons tagging some of his lines with a nerdish laugh this tendency noticeable in the pokerplaying scenes mer- 7fully disappears in his scenes ayith day where the two play off each other with welltimed fpanache day neatly overcomes the han dicap of his striking physical dif ference from the two actors in delibly identified with the role of ifelix unger where jack lemmon and tony are short dark natty juid finicky day is tall blond qiirlyhaired and boyishly athletically handsome but tony arid jack are soon forgotten as jjthe appealing day puts his own stamp on felix little wireframed glasses a hurt bewildered look and a laudable economy of fussiness ive us a believable and likeable portrait of a fusspot who drives yeryone crazy by annoying habits he knows he has but cant control jpiements also put in good work as the twittering pigeon sisters tliese roles can so easily slip into caricature but mckenzie and clements are as real and convin cing as they are amusing jtnsir giggles never irritate and te easily convey the harmony of thought and long familiarity hat mark the pair they are fferhaps not as lively as they flight be but this is probably fart and parcel of performing on ly twice a week it in this production the players must work to the unfortunate sichedule of a wednesday natinee and a sunday evening performance ronnie hawkins holds forth on friday and satur day at deer park with the time gap between per formances smooth pacing and ensemble playing are bound to puffer at least in the early days of the run while old pros like saunders and day and the talented mckenzie and clements jope very well in these cir cumstances it puts a strain on she lessexperienced actors who wiiake up the quartet of oscars ippkerplaying buddies j- robbie rox as murray the cop jfprnando curcione as vinnie kjason stowe as speed and john frewis as roy the accountant jhave all sketched out individual characters for themselves but they have yet to effect the jensemble playing that vfestablishes the foursome as need to know something about your new community call phone 4711828 4721810 0403521 4707823 our hostess will bring gifts and greetings along with helpful community information theatre in review elizabeth wyatt gardensinc garden center friends of long standing as familiar and at ease with each other as the back of their hands marked or otherwise hallatts set with its navy walls and cityscapes backing the windows makes an attractive and creditable new york apart ment the contrast between oscars mess and the spick-and- span results of felixs ministra tions is not as striking as it might be but this is no doubt at tributable to running the first and second acts together without an intermission and the floral table cloth while it would make a nice touch for the final act is too dainty for oscar on his own and belies felixs fuss ing over glassrings and coasters in act two the odd couple one discovers after seeing it again post- televisionseries relies heavily on the novelty of the situation for its humor simons oneliners at least in the beginning dont come quite as thick and fast as they do in much of his other work and after long exposure on tv the situation is of course as familiar as ones own never theless it holds up surprisingly well and entertainingly today oscar and felix as interpreted by saunders and day are as lovable and funny as they ever were hours monffi 8am9pjn saturday 8ajn6prn sunday 9ajn6prn a wide variety of full lush hanging baskets i 6405080 main st stouff vihe special royal red maple trees reg 64 on sale 5288 offer ends sun june 4 6 pm vegetable plants geraniums fuscias dracena sun impatiens patio pots potted boses buy 2 and receive a box of vigoro rose food free value 359 we also carry seeds spring bubs patio sabs 14 barrels fertlzer gravel we deliver if voure in the market for a shepherd weber or broil king bbq but dont have money to burn the appliance centre is vour bbq headquarters 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