Time Magazine reports that Lane slammed his right index finger in a door just days before previews began for the revival of the Neil Simon play. The fracture required 14 stitches and a huge bandage, although Lane has been removing the bandage and splint for his performances opposite co-star Matthew Broderick.
"I'm not going to wear this in the show," Lane told the news magazine. "Have you met my finger puppet Melvin?"
Lane and Broderick — the original Max and Leo of The Producers — play, respectively, Oscar Madison and Felix Unger in Simon's classic comedy about the uneasy cohabitation of a sloppy sportswriter and an uptight writer for CBS news. The 1965 play's 1960s time period has been retained for this production.
The official opening night is Oct. 27.
The highly anticipated production has set design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Ann Roth and lighting design by Kenneth Posner. The suppoting cast of The Odd Couple includes Peter Frechette (Roy) Brad Garrett (Murray), Lee Wilkof (Vinnie) and Rob Bartlett (Speed), and Pigeon Sisters Jessica Stone (Cecily) and Olivia d'Abo (Gwendolyn). Joe Mantello directs.
The hot new show is all but sold out, the New York Post recently reported. "I don't think we can take out any ads," producer Emanuel Azenberg told the New York paper, "because it would be misleading. We don't have any tickets."
The show has a $21.5 million advance according to the daily. As previously reported, tickets flew out the door when seats were first offered to American Express users on June 6. The show had $16.5 million in the bank within two weeks of that date.
The Odd Couple is produced by Ira Pittelman, Jeffrey Sine, Ben Sprecher, Max Cooper, Scott E. Nederlander and Emanuel Azenberg.
The Post also reported that Garrett, on "Everybody Loves Raymond" fame, is understudy to Lane, and may succeed Lane if the actor departs the shows when his contract is up in April.
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).
