Watertown Players Auditions

press release: Watertown Players will hold open auditions for the up-coming comedy production, “The Odd Couple” by Neil Simon which will be performed May 12, 13, 19, 20, and 21, 2017, at the Watertown Players Theater, located in the Market, 210 S. Water St., Watertown. The auditions will take place on Saturday, March 18, from 1:00 - 3:00 pm at the Theater. No advanced preparation is required. Attendees will be asked to read for a variety of roles from the script. "The Odd Couple" is being produced in cooperation with Samuel French. Jennie Ortega will be directing the show, and Lisa Steffl will be producing.

This classic comedy opens as a group of the guys assemble for cards in the apartment of divorced Oscar Madison. And if the mess is any indication, it's no wonder that his wife left him. Late to arrive is Felix Ungar, who has just been separated from his wife. Fastidious, depressed, and none too tense, Felix seems suicidal, but as the action unfolds, Oscar becomes the one with murder on his mind when the clean freak and the slob ultimately decide to room together with hilarious results as “The Odd Couple” is born. 

The cast consists of 6 men and 2 women all over the age of 25. Oscar Madison--a slovenly, recently divorced sportswriter; Felix Ungar--a fastidious, hypochondriac news writer whose marriage is ending; Murray: a New York policeman; Speed--gruff and sarcastic, often picking on Vinnie and Murray; Vinnie--mild-mannered and henpecked; Roy--Oscar's dry witted accountant; Cecily Pigeon--divorcee and giggly upstairs neighbor and one of two English Sisters; and Gwendolyn Pigeon--widow who lives with her sister.

"The Odd Couple" was introduced as a stage play version in 1965. It was then done as a feature film in 1968 based off of the play. The popular television show ran from 1970-1975 and starred Tony Randall as Felix Ungar and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. In 2015, the show was reintroduced in an up-to-date version starring Thomas Lennon as Felix and Matthew Perry as Oscar.