WAUPUN — The Waupun Community Players are starting preparations for this winter’s performance, this time performing the hit play The Odd Couple.
The Odd Couple was originally a play written by Neil Simon in 1965, which was produced into a film in 1968 and a sitcom that ran from 1970 to 1975.
The first day of auditions were held Thursday, August 22 in the Hillyer Room at the Waupun Public Library, with a second being held Saturday, August 24 in the same location at noon.
Auditions are open for all of the colorful main cast, and spots are open for both men and women above the age of 18.
“The regular weekly poker game is under way on a hot summer night in the smoke-filled living room of the once well-kept and fashionable Upper West Side apartment of divorced newspaper sports writer Oscar Madison. In the three months since his wife had divorced him, the easygoing, pleasant, but slovenly Oscar has managed to litter his New York City apartment with dirty dishes, discarded clothes, old newspapers, empty bottles, and other trash. Hosting the poker game, Oscar is serving his friends warm drinks (the refrigerator has been broken for two weeks) and green sandwiches that he declares were made from ‘either very new cheese or very old meat.’ The other poker players are Oscar’s friends—Murray, Speed, Roy, and Vinnie. Felix Ungar, Oscar’s best friend, is uncustomarily late for the game, and all the poker players are worried about him.”
As was the show, the play will be set in 1960’s New York with a lot of that time period’s authentic charm.
“It’ll be a really funny show, lots of laughs,” said Kim Sinclair, who will be directing the play. “There’ll be a lot of things that people can relate to, for people of a certain age it will bring back a lot of memories.”
“It was a show when I was growing up that I really enjoyed watching,” Sinclair said. “It was just one of those things that, you know what, it’s just such a great concept. It’s such a great show, it’s incredibly funny, and there’s a bit of just kind of that sentimental feel about it. For people that know the show they will have really strong feelings toward these characters. They’ll know them almost inside and out. And for people who don’t, it’s one of those shows where they’ll be drawn in.”
The play will be held this upcoming December, with more details to come.
A second day of auditions will be held Saturday, August 24, from noon to 2PM at the Waupun Public Library.
