Oscar Madison left Owen Sound late Saturday night, and I was both sad and happy to see him go.
Madison is the fictitious sports writer for the fictitious New York Post in Neil Simon’s classic comedy, ” The Odd Couple “, which was presented over the last two weeks by Little Theatre at the Roxy in Owen Sound.
In a truly risky gamble, the producers and directors of the show approached a Bayshore Broadcasting announcer and wondered if he would like to audition for the role of Oscar Madison.
The sequence that followed vastly exceeded everyone’s expectations and created so many terrific emotions.
I was sad to see Oscar go, because I like him, and I certainly liked being him.
Sure, we’ve both got massive character flaws, but in our hearts, we’re happy, mostly content with the people around us, especially the actors and actresses who we shared the stage and theatre with- people who offered advice and guidance and were truly patient with a novice performer, working long and hard to create a very solid performance. And had a ball doing so.
And I was happy to see Oscar Madison go, because we’re better for this experience.
The outpouring of support from those who bought tickets was gratifying and humbling.
Plus, Oscar departs knowing this Spring’s Little Theatre production was among the most successful ever on many, many levels.
So we say ‘ goodbye ‘ to Oscar Madison and say a heartfelt ‘ Thank You ‘ to Little Theatre for an exceptionally rewarding experience.
I’m Oscar Madison……. I’m Fred Wallace