Auditions for The Odd Couple (Female Version)
Post on August 6, 2021 by Don Blaheta
Waterworks Players announces upcoming auditions for Neil Simon's The Odd Couple (Female Version), with performances in mid-late October, to be directed by Don Blaheta. Simon wrote his original script for The Odd Couple in 1966, later adapted into a film and then a TV series, but in 1985 he updated and flipped the script, rewriting the protagonists and their circle of friends as women. This snappy comedy follows Olive Madison and Florence Unger, estranged from their husbands, as they try to navigate living as flatmates despite very different ideas about how to keep up an apartment and how to live their lives.
The cast of characters includes six women and two men, all nominally in their late 30s; adult actors of any age and any race/ethnicity are encouraged to audition. All roles are available at this time.
Olive Madison and Florence Unger are the lead characters. Olive is a successful TV news producer with a (figuratively and literally) cluttered home life, with an ex-husband that keeps calling and asking for money. Florence set aside office work when she got married and had children, and loved her homemaking family life… until her husband asked for a divorce. The frustrated mismatch between the two is the backbone of the show, and each has an important character arc as she learns from the other.
Mickey, Sylvie, Renee, and Vera round out the group of six friends that have known each other since high school. Their weekly Trivial Pursuit game is a major social outlet for all of them; they all want to do what they can to support Olive and Florence.
The Costazuela brothers, Manolo and Jesús, live upstairs in Olive's apartment building. They are from Spain and speak in (Castilian) Spanish accents; actors reading for the roles will be asked to attempt a few lines in a Spanish accent BUT this is not a requirement at time of audition—we will work on this during the rehearsal process either way.
Covid-19 policies:
Everyone should wear a mask or equivalent face covering (nose and mouth) to auditions. Further covid policies will be discussed there; we are monitoring the situation and want to provide a safe environment for our return to live theatre.
Auditions will be on Sunday and Monday 15-16 August, at 7:30pm, at the Waterworks Theatre building (25 SMI Way, Farmville), and will consist of cold readings from the script. Those auditioning may join us for either or both of the nights. After the show is cast, we will meet for a table reading the week of the 22nd (date TBD), and regular rehearsals will begin after Labor Day. Performances will be 8pm on 15-16 October and 22-23 October, with a single 2pm matinee on 17 October.
If you have any questions about auditions or the show, please contact us via our Facebook page or at info@waterworksplayers.org.
The Odd Couple, Female Version is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com