Director Promises 'The Odd Couple' Will Make You Laugh
March 3, 2021 at 7:22 p.m.
By David Slone-
Dr. Nicole Miller is directing the comedy, a first time for her at directing, though she’s not a stranger to the CSCT. She assisted directed for “On Golden Pond” last spring. Miller took over the reins of directing for “The Odd Couple” after Melissa Jordan – who sits on the CSCT board, plays Florence Unger in “Odd Couple” and was an actress in “On Golden Pond” – asked her if she’d be interested.
“So we had worked together for that, so she just thought of me to do this show and I said sure,” Miller said. “But I had been thinking about doing it all along, but I had projected out a little further along than this spring, so it came a little sooner than I was planning, but I had wanted to direct. Just kind of dip my toes in that end of things, and it has been a different experience than being on stage, for sure.”
Chuck Brindle is the assistant director for “The Odd Couple” and it’s his first time working behind the scenes, but it’s his fifth show, having always been on stage previously.
“It’s very different. It’s busy. It’s very busy because you’re constantly moving instead of waiting for your line to come up. You’re having to watch everything else that is going on and trying to think,” Brindle said. “I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Miller and the other directors I’ve worked with, and it has been really exciting to kind of work on this side of it.”
In describing the show, Miller said, “It’s a female take on the same play. There are most places where it’s word-for-word actually, but it’s also updated in the timeline. It’s in the ‘80s versus I think the original was in the ‘50s. But the whole storyline is about two real good friends, and one of them just gets dumped and has no idea what to do with the rest of her life. And the other one invites her to live with her, which seems like a good idea at first because they’re friends and they get along really well. But, one of them is a slob and one of them is a neat freak. One of them is a laissez-faire kind of person, while the other one likes to be very rigid. And the word ‘neurotic’ has been used often to describe her character.”
Miller said the two characters often butt heads on stage, so the show is about the two friends coming to terms with their differences. Florence, played by Jordan, is the neurotic, while Olive Madison, played by Kathryn Anders, is the slobby, laissez-faire character. Anders directed the 2020 production of “Clue” for the CSCT, and Anders and Miller were in “Steel Magnolias” together.
“They’re not only fantastic actresses and just really good in their parts and know how to be on this stage in particular because it is in the round, because they’ve done it before; they’ve both directed in the round before, so that kind of expertise has made my job easier because they have that,” Miller said of Jordan and Anders. “But then their chemistry has also made my job really easy because their dynamic together is just fantastic.”
Brindle said, “The really great thing about working with the people from the Center Street Community Theatre is that they’re all very professional. They’re here to volunteer, they’re here to have fun, but they’re also here to put together a good show and act professionally.”
He jokingly said the only downside to a show like this is that there aren’t enough male parts for him to get one.
The show clearly has a 1980s vibe to it, Miller said. “It’s pretty obvious from hairstyles, from clothes, from the set design. All of it is pretty specific. It’s pretty obvious from those things, but it’s also written into the script quite a bit,” she said.
Brindle, who graduated high school in 1991, grew up in the 1980s. He said one of the challenges of doing the show is that it is set during that time period.
“You know, that’s actually been one of the challenges because we’ve got people on stage that are in their 60s; we have people that are on stage in their early 20s. And people in their early 20s, we’ve got an ALF doll on stage and they have no clue who ALF was. I loved ALF. I was an ALF junkie. But they have no clue who ALF was,” Brindle said. “Some of the jokes, they’re funny, but if you know what culture was like in the mid-‘80s, they’re funnier. And then this play is predominantly 30-year-old ladies, so a lot of times they’ll reminisce about stuff from the ‘70s or the ‘60s even. So, having that culture gap has been fun to actually try to give that history lesson … it kind of makes you feel old actually.”
The cast is small with just six other actors besides Jordan and Anders.
“The first people that the audience meets is these four female friends of Florence and Olive’s,” Miller said. “And they just kind of buffer the relationship between the two, kind of add to it here and there. So there’s four friends – one is a single feminist, one is a cop, the other one is just kind of a ditzy lady who just is married and lives a happy life, and then another one is trying to quit smoking.”
There’s also two Spanish brothers from Spain, and they come in during the second act. “And they’re just hilarious and over the top and they just kind of add some funny. They add a little bit of testosterone to the mix, and it just kind of amps it up for the comedy even more. It’s great,” Miller said.
She said she chose “The Odd Couple: Female Version” because she was in the production of “Steel Magnolias” as her first experience with CSCT. “And just the camaraderie we had with a small cast, a small female cast, just really made me want to do something with a female cast. So the friendships are kind of similar in that way,” she said. As director, Miller referenced shows like “The Golden Girls” and “Designing Women” to give some character insight to her cast as to how the women in “The Odd Couple” would talk to each other, carry themselves and how their demeanor might mirror the women from those shows.
Show dates and times are 7:30 p.m. March 11-13 and 2 p.m. March 14. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased through the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts box office or online at wagonwheelcenter.org.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller said audience members will need to wear masks as they come into the theater, but once they are seated they will be sitting 6 feet apart from other groups and they can take off their masks to watch the show. There will be an intermission to go to the restroom, but not for concessions. Groups will be 6 feet apart and every other row “so it is limited seating for that reason.”
“The show in general is just hilarious,” Miller said. “I feel like it’s what people need in this time where maybe we’re just a little bit frustrated with COVID, and over that and tired of the seriousness and just ready for a good night out. This show will provide that. It is kind of PG-13, so kids under 13 probably should stay home.”
Brindle said, “It’s a comedy. You’ll laugh your socks off. It’s a great cast. It’s been a real privilege to be a part of it. I’ve worked with a lot of these people before in one capacity or another, and just being a part of something like this, especially at a time when there’s not a lot of live theater going on. And live theater is something that people like. It cheers people up, makes people happy … and having a laugh is good for the soul.”
Dr. Nicole Miller is directing the comedy, a first time for her at directing, though she’s not a stranger to the CSCT. She assisted directed for “On Golden Pond” last spring. Miller took over the reins of directing for “The Odd Couple” after Melissa Jordan – who sits on the CSCT board, plays Florence Unger in “Odd Couple” and was an actress in “On Golden Pond” – asked her if she’d be interested.
“So we had worked together for that, so she just thought of me to do this show and I said sure,” Miller said. “But I had been thinking about doing it all along, but I had projected out a little further along than this spring, so it came a little sooner than I was planning, but I had wanted to direct. Just kind of dip my toes in that end of things, and it has been a different experience than being on stage, for sure.”
Chuck Brindle is the assistant director for “The Odd Couple” and it’s his first time working behind the scenes, but it’s his fifth show, having always been on stage previously.
“It’s very different. It’s busy. It’s very busy because you’re constantly moving instead of waiting for your line to come up. You’re having to watch everything else that is going on and trying to think,” Brindle said. “I’ve learned a lot from Dr. Miller and the other directors I’ve worked with, and it has been really exciting to kind of work on this side of it.”
In describing the show, Miller said, “It’s a female take on the same play. There are most places where it’s word-for-word actually, but it’s also updated in the timeline. It’s in the ‘80s versus I think the original was in the ‘50s. But the whole storyline is about two real good friends, and one of them just gets dumped and has no idea what to do with the rest of her life. And the other one invites her to live with her, which seems like a good idea at first because they’re friends and they get along really well. But, one of them is a slob and one of them is a neat freak. One of them is a laissez-faire kind of person, while the other one likes to be very rigid. And the word ‘neurotic’ has been used often to describe her character.”
Miller said the two characters often butt heads on stage, so the show is about the two friends coming to terms with their differences. Florence, played by Jordan, is the neurotic, while Olive Madison, played by Kathryn Anders, is the slobby, laissez-faire character. Anders directed the 2020 production of “Clue” for the CSCT, and Anders and Miller were in “Steel Magnolias” together.
“They’re not only fantastic actresses and just really good in their parts and know how to be on this stage in particular because it is in the round, because they’ve done it before; they’ve both directed in the round before, so that kind of expertise has made my job easier because they have that,” Miller said of Jordan and Anders. “But then their chemistry has also made my job really easy because their dynamic together is just fantastic.”
Brindle said, “The really great thing about working with the people from the Center Street Community Theatre is that they’re all very professional. They’re here to volunteer, they’re here to have fun, but they’re also here to put together a good show and act professionally.”
He jokingly said the only downside to a show like this is that there aren’t enough male parts for him to get one.
The show clearly has a 1980s vibe to it, Miller said. “It’s pretty obvious from hairstyles, from clothes, from the set design. All of it is pretty specific. It’s pretty obvious from those things, but it’s also written into the script quite a bit,” she said.
Brindle, who graduated high school in 1991, grew up in the 1980s. He said one of the challenges of doing the show is that it is set during that time period.
“You know, that’s actually been one of the challenges because we’ve got people on stage that are in their 60s; we have people that are on stage in their early 20s. And people in their early 20s, we’ve got an ALF doll on stage and they have no clue who ALF was. I loved ALF. I was an ALF junkie. But they have no clue who ALF was,” Brindle said. “Some of the jokes, they’re funny, but if you know what culture was like in the mid-‘80s, they’re funnier. And then this play is predominantly 30-year-old ladies, so a lot of times they’ll reminisce about stuff from the ‘70s or the ‘60s even. So, having that culture gap has been fun to actually try to give that history lesson … it kind of makes you feel old actually.”
The cast is small with just six other actors besides Jordan and Anders.
“The first people that the audience meets is these four female friends of Florence and Olive’s,” Miller said. “And they just kind of buffer the relationship between the two, kind of add to it here and there. So there’s four friends – one is a single feminist, one is a cop, the other one is just kind of a ditzy lady who just is married and lives a happy life, and then another one is trying to quit smoking.”
There’s also two Spanish brothers from Spain, and they come in during the second act. “And they’re just hilarious and over the top and they just kind of add some funny. They add a little bit of testosterone to the mix, and it just kind of amps it up for the comedy even more. It’s great,” Miller said.
She said she chose “The Odd Couple: Female Version” because she was in the production of “Steel Magnolias” as her first experience with CSCT. “And just the camaraderie we had with a small cast, a small female cast, just really made me want to do something with a female cast. So the friendships are kind of similar in that way,” she said. As director, Miller referenced shows like “The Golden Girls” and “Designing Women” to give some character insight to her cast as to how the women in “The Odd Couple” would talk to each other, carry themselves and how their demeanor might mirror the women from those shows.
Show dates and times are 7:30 p.m. March 11-13 and 2 p.m. March 14. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased through the Wagon Wheel Center for the Arts box office or online at wagonwheelcenter.org.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Miller said audience members will need to wear masks as they come into the theater, but once they are seated they will be sitting 6 feet apart from other groups and they can take off their masks to watch the show. There will be an intermission to go to the restroom, but not for concessions. Groups will be 6 feet apart and every other row “so it is limited seating for that reason.”
“The show in general is just hilarious,” Miller said. “I feel like it’s what people need in this time where maybe we’re just a little bit frustrated with COVID, and over that and tired of the seriousness and just ready for a good night out. This show will provide that. It is kind of PG-13, so kids under 13 probably should stay home.”
Brindle said, “It’s a comedy. You’ll laugh your socks off. It’s a great cast. It’s been a real privilege to be a part of it. I’ve worked with a lot of these people before in one capacity or another, and just being a part of something like this, especially at a time when there’s not a lot of live theater going on. And live theater is something that people like. It cheers people up, makes people happy … and having a laugh is good for the soul.”
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