Steve Carell will play mismatched roommates with John C. Reilly in a new Broadway production of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple. Directed by Tony Award winner Thomas Kail, the play will begin performances on March 3, 2027, for a 15-week limited engagement at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre. Opening night is set for March 23.
Carell will play Felix Ungar and Reilly will play Oscar Madison. Joining the two are Tony winner Laura Benanti as Gwendolyn Pigeon, Tony nominee Kevin Del Aguila as Roy, Tony winner James Monroe Iglehart as Murray, Tony nominee Rob McClure as Vinnie, Heléne Yorke as Cecily Pigeon and Tony nominee David Zayas as Speed.
The Odd Couple premiered on Broadway in 1965, directed by Mike Nichols and starring Art Carney and Walter Matthau. The original production won four Tony Awards and inspired the 1968 film and a long-running television series.
The play follows recently divorced photographer Felix as he moves in with his recently separated friend Oscar, a messy sportswriter. As the pair struggle to share an apartment, their friendship is tested by their opposite personalities, romantic entanglements and growing frustration, turning everyday domestic life into a hilarious battle of habits and expectations.
“Neil Simon wrote one of the great American comedies, and it is an honor and a thrill to be part of this exceptional team bringing this play back to Broadway," said Kail in a statement. "Underneath the extraordinary humor is something deeply human. Steve and John are two remarkable actors who can make an audience laugh uproariously one moment and move them deeply in the next. We aim to create a world that feels alive, immediate and can clearly express why this play has endured for more than sixty years.”
Carell made his Broadway debut in the 2024 revival of Uncle Vanya at Lincoln Center. He is an Academy Award nominee for Foxcatcher. Best known for his Golden Globe-winning performance as Michael Scott on The Office, Carell’s films include the Despicable Me franchise, The Big Short, Little Miss Sunshine and The 40-Year-Old Virgin. Most recently, he has appeared in Rooster and The Four Seasons.
Reilly made his Broadway debut in The Grapes of Wrath and later appeared in A Streetcar Named Desire and True West, for which he earned a Tony nomination. He is an Academy Award nominee for Chicago. He is best known for his onscreen roles in Step Brothers, Talladega Nights and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Benanti is a Tony winner for Gypsy. Her additional Tony-nominated performances include Swing!, Into the Woods, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and She Loves Me. Her screen credits include Mayor of Kingstown, The Gilded Age and No Hard Feelings.
Del Aguila joins The Odd Couple following his performance in Broadway's The Fantasticks. He received a Tony nomination and Drama Desk Award for his performance in Some Like It Hot. His other Broadway credits include Frozen, Peter and the Starcatcher, Yellow Face and Rocky. His television credits include Peg+Cat, for which he won an Emmy, and Hazbin Hotel.
Iglehart won a Tony for playing the Genie in Aladdin. His many Broadway credits include A Wonderful World: The Louis Armstrong Musical, & Juliet, Spamalot, Chicago, Hamilton, Freestyle Love Supreme and Memphis. His television credits include his Emmy-nominated voice performance in SuperKitties, Maniac, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Hazbin Hotel.
McClure is a two-time Tony nominee for Chaplin and Mrs. Doubtfire. His additional Broadway credits include Beetlejuice, Something Rotten!, Noises Off, Honeymoon in Vegas, Avenue Q and I’m Not Rappaport. He can currently be seen on the new CBS series Cupertino.
Yorke is known for her portrayal of Brooke Dubek in the HBO Max original comedy The Other Two. Her Broadway credits include Bullets Over Broadway and American Psycho. Her additional screen credits include Best Medicine, Hershey, Transcendent, High Maintenance and Masters of Sex.
Zayas is best known for playing Angel Batista on Dexter. His Broadway credits include his Tony-nominated performance in Cost of Living and Anna in the Tropics. His additional screen credits include The Running Man, The Bear and The Interpreter.
Simon was a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright and four-time Tony winner. His first full-length play, Come Blow Your Horn, opened on Broadway in 1961. He won Tony Awards for The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers, which also earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. His other plays include Barefoot in the Park, The Sunshine Boys, Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound.
Kail is a Tony-winning director for Hamilton and three-time Emmy winner for Grease: Live and Hamilton. His Broadway directing credits include In the Heights, Lombardi, Magic/Bird, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Proof. He directed and co-created Freestyle Love Supreme, which received a Special Tony Award. Kail's television work includes Grease: Live, Fosse/Verdon and the filmed stage production of Hamilton as well as the live-action film of Moana for Disney.