It's Just As Easy To Get These Things Right
The NYT pans the Nathan Lane/Matthew Broderick Odd Couple.
USA Today critic Elysa Gardner is even tougher to please--she thinks the Neil Simon work isn't funny enough. Wow! Elysa, I'll give you a week to write something as funny as any random page of this play.
Gardner at least liked the Pigeon sisters. Howard Kissel at the Daily News felt nothing worked except the poker players.
The Post loves it. Of course, their critic is Clive Barnes, who was a champion of Neil Simon when the original production opened.
None of this matters. The whole run of the show is sold out. I'd be happy to see it, good or bad.
I read a few articles about the production. Some stated Felix Ungar is a photographer. That's the TV series. Following the theme of this blog, in the play he writes the news for CBS.
posted by LAGuy @ 2:18 AM
2 Comments:
Imo, many critics were loathe to praise this production because they believe their reviews are superfluous with the sold-out run. Do you agree? Is the point of entertainment criticism to advise the public about the pros and cons of attendance? Shouldn't a review be more than just a Consumer Report entry?
Sorry, I almost missed this comment before it disappeared into the archives.
It's hard to comment on a production I haven't seen, but I find it hard to believe the critics consciously didn't like the show because they knew it was beyond their influence. More likely, the show was victim to unfair expectations--the last time these critics saw the duo was in a huge hit that they all loved, so what are the odds they'll scale those heights again. Besides, they were fresh and new in The Producers (for the most part) while these critics already pretty much knew The Odd Couple.
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