Anchorage Daily News

Neil Simon's female version of "The Odd Couple" doesn't measure up to the original, despite the best efforts of the cast in the Brown Eyed Girls production.

The female version feels like Simon winking at Simon -- a latter-day riff on the original that's peppered with the kind of pop-culture references used by less-creative writers to jazz up contemporary film versions of TV shows like "The Brady Bunch." The setting is aggressively advanced into the 1980s -- so much so that at times it feels a bit like the Adam Sandler vehicle "The Wedding Singer," a 1998 nostalgia film packed with knowing references to '80s music and trends.

Between Simon's heavy-handed update of his own original script and some lack of nuance on the part of the leads, "The Odd Couple" sometimes comes off more as a parody of itself than a comedy in its own right.

As Olive, Sarah MacMillan delivers an almost uncanny impersonation of Walter Matthau. It's tough to tell, however, if the homage to Matthau is intentional or just a result of MacMillan throwing herself physically into the role. MacMillan seems to come more into her own after the intermission, when her take on Olive becomes less Matthau-esque and more womanly (without jettisoning any of the character's requisite slovenliness).

Florence was played Thursday by Kary Bashford-Blumer, who will alternate the role with Rachel Gregory. Bashford-Blumer's Florence is prim bordering on hysterical; at times it works, at others it feels a little forced.

There is a lack of chemistry between MacMillan and Bashford-Blumer in the first act; the audience is supposed to believe they are such good friends that Olive would invite a despairing Florence to move into her apartment, but the friendship doesn't feel real. After intermission, however, the gloves come off and the increasingly hostile dynamic between the two makes up for earlier, more tepid interactions.

The best performances were turned out by the supporting cast. Jennifer Waldroup is delightfully sassy as Olive and Florence's big-haired, Raisinet-munching pal, Sylvie, and Scarlet Boudreaux is affably clueless as the Florida-bound Vera.

The highlight by far is a scene in the second act in which Olive's upstairs neighbors, brothers Manolo and Jesus Costazuela (Mick Lenehan and Patrick Killoran, who will alternate the roles with actors from the male version), come to dinner -- now this is an odd couple with chemistry. Lenehan and Killoran prance onstage in a cloud of character that brings out the best in MacMillan and Bashford-Blumer.

Imperfections aside, the appeal of "The Odd Couple" is undeniable, and with several actors alternating roles, the onstage dynamic will likely continue to evolve. An evening with Olive and Florence is bound to make even the messiest, or most compulsive, theatergoer feel better about those dirty dishes sitting in the sink -- or that overwhelming urge to vacuum the drapes.

Maia Nolan lives and writes in Anchorage.

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