Short and Alexander to Reunite for Odd Couple Reading
By Andrew Gans
and Robert Simonson
06 Nov 2007
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Jason Alexander
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Jason Alexander and Martin Short, who opened the West Coast production of The Producers, will reunite for a staged reading of The Odd Couple in January 2008.
Alexander and Short will perform the Neil Simon classic at 8 PM Jan. 25 and 26, 2008, at the Wadsworth Theatre in Los Angeles. Tickets for the event, part of the 2007-2008 Reprise! Broadway's Best season, will go on sale Nov. 26.
Alexander had previously told Playbill.com that he had secured the rights to the play, which was seen recently on Broadway in a production that starred Nathan Lane as Oscar and Matthew Broderick as Felix. "I wanted to do an absolute crowd-pleaser," said Alexander. "And since my friend Marty Short and I tend to follow in Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick's footsteps, it's my intention to see if Marty might want to do it with me for a couple nights."
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).
The Emmy-winning star of "SCTV" and "Saturday Night Live" was most recently on Broadway in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. He won a Tony for Little Me and also starred in Broadway's The Goodbye Girl.
Best known for his work on the Emmy-winning TV sitcom "Seinfeld," Jason Alexander is also a Broadway veteran. He made his Broadway debut in the original cast of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along, and he also appeared in The Rink, Broadway Bound, Jerome Robbins' Broadway and The Accomplice. Alexander won a 1989 Tony Award for his work in Jerome Robbins' Broadway, and he also starred opposite Martin Short in the L.A. mounting of Mel Brooks' The Producers.
Alexander is currently serving his first term as artistic director of Reprise! The series is now presenting a revised version of Damn Yankees.
The Wadsworth Theatre is located at 11301 Wilshire Blvd. on the Veterans Administration Grounds. Tickets, priced $40-$95, will be available by calling (213) 365-3500 or (714) 740-7878 or by visiting www.reprise.org.
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