By Michael C. Guilmette Jr.
Staff Reporter
SAULT STE. MARIE — Hilarity was the order of the evening as the Sault Community Theater presented Neil Simon's “The Odd Couple, female version” at the Quality Inn on Jan. 22 through Jan. 25 to packed houses.
Following their success with “A Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” presented in October 2003, the Sault Community Theater took on Neil Simon's update to the classic comedy romp.
Directed by Paul Ignatowski and produced by Jennifer Frost, the play featured the sloppy Olive Madison and the immaculate Florence Unger. Olive, played by Maureen Henderson, was recently divorced from her gambler husband — who still bums money from her on a regular basis.
Florence, played by Frost, can best be described as very prim and proper — so much so that Olive jovially noted that “Florence didn't even get undressed when she gave birth to her children.”
The play opens on Olive's modest Riverside Drive apartment in New York City — an apartment modest in size, but not in appearance. Clothing is strewn throughout, household items are not put away, the food is . questionable, and Olive is perfectly comfortable with the state of affairs.
Olive is hosting an evening with the girls — Mickey, played by Terry Swift; Vera, played by Andrea Postula; Renee, played by Diane Markstrom; and Sylvie, played by Rachel Mender — playing trivia games and gossiping, when they get word that Florence has just been thrown out by her short, cowboy-wannabe husband.
Realizing how high-strung Florence is, the girls fear that she will attempt suicide. When Florence arrives at Olive's apartment, the girls try to play the whole thing off like nothing had happened in the hopes that a little normalcy would ground Florence enough to keep her from doing something rash.
However, Florence is bound and determined to feel sorry for herself, to the point where she is running into the bathroom — presumably looking for anything to help along her cry for help — with all the girls behind her.
Everyone reappears from the bathroom a moment later, with Olive carrying Florence over her shoulder after knocking her out. Florence eventually comes to, but is miserable about the new course of her life. Olive takes pity on her forlorn friend and tells her that she is going to move in with her and that she is going to get on with her life.
Proving the adage that no good deed goes unpunished, Olive soon grows wary of her new roommate. As the play opens into the second act, the audience sees an apartment transformed. Everything is neat and tidy and put away. Doilies and knick-knacks adorn the shelves and walls, and the apartment has the air of a housewife in her element.
Florence truly is in her element, and she has completely removed Olive from hers. Their friends notice the change as well, as Florence unceasingly fusses over them during the next girls night at the apartment.
As times goes on, Olive gets even more irritated with Florence's orderly ways. Furthermore, she is desperately longing for some male companionship, and she proposes a dinner date for herself and Florence with two Spanish brothers that also live in their building.
Olive wanted to go out for the date, but Florence, nervous about the entire affair, insists that she make dinner at the apartment where she can keep some semblance of control over the situation.
When the magic day arrives, Florence is freaking out, trying to cook a bird for dinner while making the apartment as presentable as possible. Olive shows up, an hour and a half later than she said she would be, and with a box of wine in tow.
Jesus and Manolo, the two brothers played by Oliver Beaudoin and Jason Markstrom respectively, arrive at the appointed time to Olive's glee and Florence's panic. During the small-talk, the brothers reveal that they are starting new lives in America after leaving their wives in Spain.
The foursome struggles with first-date awkwardness and minor language barriers, but Manolo eventually tells Olive and Florence that he and his brother are a mismatched pair — Manolo is slovenly while Jesus is neat and proper.
The arrangement appears to be going well, and Olive decides to go into the kitchen to fix some drinks—and to give Florence time to actually talk to her handsome European dinner guests. Florence is very apprehensive about talking to the brothers — that is, until all three start talking about the lives they have left behind.
Needless to say, Olive walked back into an atmosphere vastly different than she had left. Florence, Jesus and Manolo were all bawling and blubbering in the living, much to Olive's dismay. During the emotional commotion, Florence lost track of her bird in the oven, which soon burned to a crisp.
Jesus and Manolo offered to move the dinner up to their apartment, but Florence sabotaged the rest of the evening when her back conveniently went out.
This was the last straw for Olive, and after a final blow-up with Florence, she threw her overly neat roommate out of the apartment.
In the last scene, Olive is again hosting a night with the girls when Jesus and Manolo arrive to inform her that Florence is moving in with them, and they scolded Olive for throwing out a friend in need. Shortly afterwards, Olive's ex-husband calls to let her know that he scored a big win and that he was repaying all the money that he had borrowed from her. He also told her that he would not be calling her any more for help.
Olive got what she outwardly said she wanted, but as the curtains fell, she was left wondering if it was better to feel needed.
The play was a resounding success for the community theater group. Colleen Lavey, assistant producer for the play, said that the cast performed before packed houses each night, with the only exception being opening night due to heavy snow falling in the Sault Ste. Marie area.
Henderson and Frost played off of each other very well, giving an almost natural feel to the animosity their characters showed to each other as well as portraying feuding roommates while keeping the action comical. Jason Markstrom and Beaudoin also provided effective comic relief as the fish-out-of-water Spaniards.
The Sault Community Theater are holding auditions for their next production, “You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” a musical comedy scheduled for performance May 20 through May 22, 2004.
