Two Muses Opens Female Version of 'Odd Couple' Nov. 4

Two Muses Theatre opens its first season this weekend with a twist on a Neil Simon hit – and a cast of multi-taskers.

The professional, non-profit theater company brings the Neil Simon hit, The Odd Couple to a stage in West Bloomfield, only this version is a little different: Oscar and Felix are now Olive and Florence.

Neil Simon wrote the original The Odd Couple in 1965 and created The Odd Couple (Female Version) 21 years later. Another twist is that Olive and Florence are played by Two Muses co-founders and Farmington Hills residents Diane Hill (Florence) and Barbie Weisserman (Olive). 

“With six women and only two men in the cast, this female version is the perfect inaugural show for our theatre, as our mission is to provide professional opportunities for female artisans who want to be involved both onstage and backstage,” Hill said. Like many others in the production, she's wearing multiple hats: director, actress and marketing. “It's also perfect because Barbie and I are pretty much the ‘odd couple’ – as long-time friends and, now, business partners."

Along with Hill, Terie Spencer is co-director of The Female Odd Couple; she is also seen on stage.

“Playing the messy pal Olive is not that far of a stretch for me,” jokes Weisserman, who is also designing the costumes, props and helping set designer and builder Bill Mandt of Southfield dress the set.

“Everyone is juggling a lot of roles in order to get this first show up and running,” Weisserman said.

In Simon's female revision of The Odd Couple, Olive hosts Trivial Pursuit night in her sloppy apartment.

At the sacred Friday-night Trivial Pursuit table sit a group of hilarious actresses: Nancy Cooper of Farmington, as the street-smart cop Mickey; Julie Yolles of Birmingham, as Sylvie, who enjoys cracking jokes about her husband; Cheryl Glicker of Milford, as Renee, who is quick to notice Olive’s failures as hostess; and Spencer of Commerce Township, as the somewhat spacey Vera.

In Act Two, the lusty Spanish Brothers, Jesus and Manolo, played by Alan Madlane of Ferndale and Bob Hotchkiss of Birmingham, arrive. Their dicey double-date with the odd couple dishes up a load of laughter.

The Female Version of the Odd Couple runs weekends Nov. 4-27, with 8 p.m. performances on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. matinees on Sundays. The theatre is located inside the , 6800 Orchard Lake Road in West Bloomfield, just south of Maple.

General admission tickets are $18, with a special ticket price of $15 for students and seniors (62 and over). Reduced price tickets are available for a preview night on Nov. 3. Purchase tickets online at twomusestheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at 248-850-9919. Tickets may also be purchased at the theatre one hour prior to each performance.

Rounding out the production crew for this production are:

Allie Shapiro – Farmington Hills (Production Stage Manager)   
Lauren Juliano – White Lake   (Stage Manager)       
Mark Simmons – Detroit (Carpenter)
Lucy Meyo –  Milford (Lighting Designer)   
Frank Ginis – Troy (Master Electrician)   
Barry Cutler – Ferndale (Publicity)
Steve Hill – Farmington Hills (Photographer and Sound Designer)