THE GUYS—”The Odd Couple” cast members rehearse for the show which opens tonight, Thurs., Feb. 2. An all female cast will open its version of the play on Fri., Feb. 3. What happens when a compulsive neat freak moves in with a slob? Hilarity results, as the Oak Park High School Drama Department discovers in staging two variations of Neil Simon’s classic comedy “The Odd Couple.”

The male version opens tonight, Thurs., Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. and repeats at 7 p.m. Sat., Feb. 4.

The female version, with the two male lead characters written as women, will run at 7 p.m. Fri, Feb. 3 and 2 p.m. Saturday.

All shows are in the school Pavilion, 899 N. Kanan Road. The public is invited.

“The Odd Couple” opened on Broadway in 1965 with Walter Matthau as the messy Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon as the prissy Felix Ungar. The two reprised their roles in the 1968 movie.

A TV version with Tony Randall as Felix and Jack Klugman as Oscar ran from 1970 to 1975, followed by a less successful series in 1982-83 with Ron Glass (Felix) and Demond Wilson (Oscar).

When several actresses asked Simon to write a comedy for them, he revamped the play for women. The female version opened on Broadway in 1985 with Rita Moreno as Olive Madison and Sally Struthers as Florence Ungar.

The concept even showed up in a Saturday morning cartoon series, “The Oddball Couple,” with a neat cat and a sloppy dog, from 1975 to 1977.

While the two plays have the same story line—Felix/Florence moves in with the divorced Oscar/ Olive when the neatnik’s spouse files for divorce—the two variations have their differences, such as the women playing Trivial Pursuit in place of the guys’ poker night.

The female version has more profanity, which the audience will hear because the school is contractually bound not to change the dialogue, said director Allan Hunt, the school drama teacher.

Hunt said he’s staging both versions in repertory because “I love these plays. The original ‘Odd Couple’ is one of the most beloved American comedies ever, up there with ‘Charlie’s Aunt’ and ‘Arsenic and Old Lace.’”

The movie and TV series are unknown to the students, Hunt said, but “they’re loving it.”

The director doesn’t often have an opportunity to work with small-cast shows. He’s at he helm of “mostly huge productions” at the school because “everyone wants to be part of it,” he said.

To involve more students with this show, Hunt added a large troupe called “The Runaways,” which he describes as “sort of a Greek chorus” that opens both acts and also presents a show at intermission.

Senior Megan Donahue plays Olive in the female version and sophomore Kyra Stevens portrays Florence. Both have acted in several previous OPHS shows, but “Odd Couple” is the first time they’ve worked closely with each other on stage.

Each girl says she’s like her stage role. Kyra says the actresses both have “traits the play brings out” and the roles are “stereotypes of ourselves.”

Like the orderly Florence character, Kyra says she “likes schedules” and “cleaning things out . . . when I’m stressed, I run around and get things done.” The character is “me times 10.”

Megan confesses she’s a “very sloppy person,” much like her character. When she told her father she was cast in the role, he said, “Oh, you’re living your life.”

“Every person (in the cast) is perfect for their part. Everyone is like the character,” Megan said.

“The longer we rehearse a scene the more it becomes real,” said Kyra. But when practicing, she said, they have to “hold in the laughter” because the play is so funny.

Neil Simon is a “genius” at writing for women, said Kyra. Reading the script was like “watching my mom’s group of friends,” she added.

Simon has written “ depth behind the lines,” said Megan.

Florence and Olive have four girlfriends. Jamie Domke plays Vera, described by the cast as “a dumb blonde, an airhead.” Shaindy Wilson refers to her character, Sylvia, as a “sarcastic snob, a chain smoker.”

Renee is “a realist, very sophisticated, a loyal friend,” said actress Jasmine Khorsandi. Mickey, a cop played by Jade Flores-Henderson, is “level-headed, practical, keeps the others in line,” said Jade.

Rounding out their cast are the Spanish Costazuela brothers (substituting for the British Pigeon sisters of the male version).

Ricky Zandian plays Jesus Costazuela and Ben Guiterrez is brother Manolo.

Actors in the male version are Michael Weisman, Drew Gregory, Matt Tallman, Kevin Pondt, Eliron Hershko, Chris Steiner, Bridgette Garb and Rachel Berman.

Assisting Hunt is Russ Peters, the show’s producer. Set designer Don Enoch is also in charge of the stagecraft students, lights, sound and props.

The students agreed that “The Odd Couple” has been a terrific experience.

“Theater is something that we will carry with us regardless of our (college) major,” said Jade. “It’s part of our lives, part of our memories.”