One of the most challenging aspects of being a community theater actor is to take on a role that is so well ingrained in America’s memory though a hit movie or television show that it becomes nearly impossible to reinvent that character.
And nowhere is that truer than when talking about to roles of Oscar Madison and Felix Unger in Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple. With such stunning performances from Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, and later, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, there seems to be little room for interpretation of these iconic characters.
But that hasn’t stopped Chestertown’s Bob Chauncey (Felix) and Cambridge’s Bill Gross (Oscar) from trying. While they are the first to admit that they have studied both the film and TV versions of this stage classic, their years of training as actors have allowed themselves to explore other angles to Felix and Oscar’s personalities through the lens of their own domestic lives and rediscovered the universal themes of the Odd Couple.
The Spy had a chance to sit down with them both at Bullitt House a few weeks ago to talk about their take on The Odd Couple, directed by Ed Langrell, as the Tred Avon Players continues their extraordinary year of comedy productions at the Oxford Community Center starting August 10th.
Evening performances of “The Odd Couple” are scheduled for Thursday (“Thrifty Thursday,” featuring two-for-one tickets), August 10; Friday, Aug 11; and Saturday, Aug 12, all starting at 7:30 p.m. A Sunday matinee on Aug 13 begins at 2 p.m. The following weekend, evening shows are set for Thursday through Saturday, Aug 17-19, at 7:30 p.m., with the run wrapping on Sunday, August 20, at 2 p.m.
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