Fan Casting The Odd Couple

In 1985, Neil Simon revised The Odd Couple for a female cast. The Female Odd Couple was based on the same story line and same lead characters, now called Florence Unger and Olive Madison. The poker game became Trivial Pursuit with their friends becoming the girlfriends: Mikey, Sylvie, Vera, and Renee. The English-born Pigeon sisters became the Spanish-born Costazuela brothers, Manolo and Jesus. The Female Odd Couple opened on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on June 11, 1985, and closed on February 23, 1986, after 295 performances and nine previews. Directed by Gene Saks, responsible for the 1968 film version, the leads were Sally Struthers as Florence (Felix) and Rita Moreno as Olive (Oscar), respectively, with Lewis J. Stadlen and Tony Shalhoub (in his Broadway debut) as the Costazuela brothers. Moreno was later replaced by Brenda Vaccaro. Struthers indicated on Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast that Moreno was very difficult to work with. A London production of this version ran at the Apollo Theatre in 2001 and starred Paula Wilcox (Florence) and Jenny Seagrove (Olive). Translated into Spanish as La extraña pareja the female version opened in Madrid in 2017. Directed by Andrés Rus, the leads were Susana Hernáiz (Olga/Olive) and Elda García (Flora/Florence) in the main roles.