The Odd Couple Theatre News
New Block of Lane-Broderick Odd Couple Tickets Go on Sale
June 20
By Robert Simonson from http://www.playbill.com/news/article/93444.html
09 Jun 2005
A new block of tickets for the Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick
Broadway revival of The Odd Couple will go on sale at 10 AM
June 20.
The new block covers performances from Feb. 7 to April 2,
2006, and will be available only to American Express card
holders. Seats were first offered to Amex users on June 6,
and proved so popular that the show sold roughly $7 million
in tickets during its first day of sales, a spokesperson confirmed.
At this astounding pace, it is thought that the production
could potentially sell out its limited run before the first
preview, set for Oct. 4. It is also conceivable that the Joe
Mantello-directed revival could recoup well in advance of
opening.
Tickets will not go on sale to the general public until July
5.
The play will be at the Brooks Atkinson. Rehearsals are to
begin on Sept. 6. Emanuel Azenberg, Ira Pittelman, Jeffrey
Sine, Max Cooper and Ben Sprecher are producing.
Lane and Broderick will play Oscar Madison and Felix Unger
in Simon's classic The Odd Couple. Lane would be the sloppy
sportswriter Madison, while Broderick would be the uptight
photographer Felix Ungar.
Also in the cast are Lee Wilkof, Rob Bartlett, Brad Garrett,
Olivia d'Abo and Jessica Stone.
The original Broadway production of The Odd Couple opened
at Broadway's Plymouth Theatre in March 1965. Art Carney and
Walter Matthau starred as, respectively, Felix and Oscar.
The production won four 1965 Tonys, including awards for Matthau
(Actor), Simon (Author), Mike Nichols (Director) and Oliver
Smith (Scenic Designer). Matthau then repeated his role on
film opposite the Felix of Jack Lemmon. The long-running TV
version of Simon's work featured Jack Klugman (Oscar) and
Tony Randall (Felix).
Lane and Broderick first proved box-office catnip as the
stars above the title in the Mel Brooks musical The Producers.