Neil Simon

Elaine LeGendre photos The cast includes (front from left) Will Bellis and Vance Gates; (rear) Emily Heath, Janelle Hartung, Tessa Storm, Devin McCall, Anna Tramontozzi and Arielle Slatus. By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent The Melrose High School Drama Club will present a classic with a twist, when it puts on "The Odd Couple" (Female Version) Dec. 2 and 3. The play, directed by history teacher Timothy Daly, is a remake of the 1985 Neil Simon production.

COMEDY Milton: "An Evening of Neil Simon" is presented by Play Around, a nonprofit community theater group. They will perform scenes from two of Simon's classic plays: "London Suite" and the female version of "The Odd Couple. " Tuesday, 7 p.m. Milton Public Library, 476 Canton Ave. Free. 617-698-5757, www.playaroundma.com. EVENTS Dedham: The Dedham Historical Society House Tour includes several homes located around Franklin Square, a historic neighborhood.

LOS ANGELES -- John Randolph, a prolific, Tony Award-winning character actor who played Roseanne's father in "Roseanne" and Tom Hanks's grandfather in "You've Got Mail," died Tuesday at his home in Hollywood. He was 88. Though his film career was hobbled in the 1950s because of the blacklist, he chalked up dozens of roles in later decades. He played a police chief in 1973's "Serpico," appeared in the 1974 TV movie "The Missiles of October," and was Roseanne's father in several episodes of "Roseanne.

Elaine LeGendre photos The cast includes (front from left) Will Bellis and Vance Gates; (rear) Emily Heath, Janelle Hartung, Tessa Storm, Devin McCall, Anna Tramontozzi and Arielle Slatus. By Matt Byrne, Town Correspondent The Melrose High School Drama Club will present a classic with a twist, when it puts on "The Odd Couple" (Female Version) Dec. 2 and 3. The play, directed by history teacher Timothy Daly, is a remake of the 1985 Neil Simon production.

COMEDY Milton: "An Evening of Neil Simon" is presented by Play Around, a nonprofit community theater group. They will perform scenes from two of Simon's classic plays: "London Suite" and the female version of "The Odd Couple. " Tuesday, 7 p.m. Milton Public Library, 476 Canton Ave. Free. 617-698-5757, www.playaroundma.com. EVENTS Dedham: The Dedham Historical Society House Tour includes several homes located around Franklin Square, a historic neighborhood.

LOS ANGELES -- Actress Mercedes McCambridge, called by Orson Welles "the world's greatest living radio actress" and who won an Oscar for the 1949 film "All the King's Men" and decades later provided the raspy voice of the demon-possessed girl in "The Exorcist," died March 2 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. She was 87. Ms. McCambridge died from natural causes, said Cathy Ruppert, the assistant to the trustee of her estate. Ms. McCambridge's strong, radio-trained voice made her an ideal film portrayer of hard-driving women.

STONEHAM -- As safe bets go, Neil Simon is a playwright to bank on. The easygoing pitter-patter of his scripts -- especially his earlier ones -- is something with which theatergoers are comfortable. So when Stoneham Theatre was looking for an audience-pleaser and inserted "The Sunshine Boys" into a slot originally designated for a newer play, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Of course, comfortable and reasonable do not necessarily add up to exciting or groundbreaking, but that's not what anyone looks to Simon for, especially in this 1972 script about two former...

Few creative teams have held more promise than that behind "Promises, Promises. " With Burt Bacharach and Hal David penning the score and Neil Simon renovating Billy Wilder's "The Apartment," what could go wrong? Yet after its original Broadway run, "Promises" has rarely been revived, and a sweet but uneven new production from Animus Ensemble can't disguise the reasons why. In short, the musical fulfills its promise only late in the game (with the classic "What Do You Get When You Fall in Love?"

NEW YORK - Broadway and screen actor George Grizzard, who won acclaim and a Tony Award for performing in Edward Albee's dramas, died Tuesday at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center of complications from lung cancer. He was 79. Mr. Grizzard's film roles included a bullying senator in "Advise and Consent" in 1962 and an oilman in "Comes a Horseman" in 1978. On television, he made regular appearances on "Law & Order" and won a best supporting actor Emmy for the 1980 TV movie "The Oldest Living Graduate," which starred Henry Fonda.

WORCESTER -- During 43 years as partners, comedians Al Lewis and Willie Clark covered more territory on the vaudeville circuit than their namesakes did on their journey of exploration. But as Neil Simon's 1973 comedy classic "The Sunshine Boys" begins, neither would cross the street to see the other. Willie's agent, nephew Ben, hopes to unite the duo for a TV variety show to reprise their classic sketch, "The Doctor Will See You Now" -- an unlikely proposition since they can't stand each other.

Observation No. 1: Previews kill comedy. “Dinner for Schmucks,’’ the new movie from Jay Roach (“Austin Powers,’’ “Meet the Parents’’) is far from a classic of precision farce, but it’s funnier than the trailers make it seem. The ads highlight the dopiest, crassest gags; they’re there, all right, but as part of a nonstop flow of silliness that doesn’t build so much as continually renew itself. A number of bits don’t work, some of the characters wear out their welcome, but the whole suckers you into an agreeable state of idiot bliss.

GLOUCESTER — Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy “The Norman Conquests’’ was originally written for the British playwright’s longtime theatrical home, a small theater in the seaside resort of Scarborough. So it’s a natural fit for another small theater in a seaside resort, the North Shore’s Gloucester Stage. Gloucester opens this summer’s season with the first play in the trilogy, “Table Manners’’ — but it’s worth emphasizing that the three comedies, which each look at a disastrous family weekend from a different perspective, don’t need to be seen together in...

NEW YORK - Broadway and screen actor George Grizzard, who won acclaim and a Tony Award for performing in Edward Albee's dramas, died Tuesday at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center of complications from lung cancer. He was 79. Mr. Grizzard's film roles included a bullying senator in "Advise and Consent" in 1962 and an oilman in "Comes a Horseman" in 1978. On television, he made regular appearances on "Law & Order" and won a best supporting actor Emmy for the 1980 TV movie "The Oldest Living Graduate," which starred Henry Fonda.

Few creative teams have held more promise than that behind "Promises, Promises. " With Burt Bacharach and Hal David penning the score and Neil Simon renovating Billy Wilder's "The Apartment," what could go wrong? Yet after its original Broadway run, "Promises" has rarely been revived, and a sweet but uneven new production from Animus Ensemble can't disguise the reasons why. In short, the musical fulfills its promise only late in the game (with the classic "What Do You Get When You Fall in Love?"

STONEHAM -- As safe bets go, Neil Simon is a playwright to bank on. The easygoing pitter-patter of his scripts -- especially his earlier ones -- is something with which theatergoers are comfortable. So when Stoneham Theatre was looking for an audience-pleaser and inserted "The Sunshine Boys" into a slot originally designated for a newer play, it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Of course, comfortable and reasonable do not necessarily add up to exciting or groundbreaking, but that's not what anyone looks to Simon for, especially in this 1972 script about two former...

LOS ANGELES -- Actress Mercedes McCambridge, called by Orson Welles "the world's greatest living radio actress" and who won an Oscar for the 1949 film "All the King's Men" and decades later provided the raspy voice of the demon-possessed girl in "The Exorcist," died March 2 at an assisted-living facility in San Diego. She was 87. Ms. McCambridge died from natural causes, said Cathy Ruppert, the assistant to the trustee of her estate. Ms. McCambridge's strong, radio-trained voice made her an ideal film portrayer of hard-driving women.

Observation No. 1: Previews kill comedy. “Dinner for Schmucks,’’ the new movie from Jay Roach (“Austin Powers,’’ “Meet the Parents’’) is far from a classic of precision farce, but it’s funnier than the trailers make it seem. The ads highlight the dopiest, crassest gags; they’re there, all right, but as part of a nonstop flow of silliness that doesn’t build so much as continually renew itself. A number of bits don’t work, some of the characters wear out their welcome, but the whole suckers you into an agreeable state of idiot bliss.

GLOUCESTER — Alan Ayckbourn’s trilogy “The Norman Conquests’’ was originally written for the British playwright’s longtime theatrical home, a small theater in the seaside resort of Scarborough. So it’s a natural fit for another small theater in a seaside resort, the North Shore’s Gloucester Stage. Gloucester opens this summer’s season with the first play in the trilogy, “Table Manners’’ — but it’s worth emphasizing that the three comedies, which each look at a disastrous family weekend from a different perspective, don’t need to be seen together in...

LOS ANGELES -- John Randolph, a prolific, Tony Award-winning character actor who played Roseanne's father in "Roseanne" and Tom Hanks's grandfather in "You've Got Mail," died Tuesday at his home in Hollywood. He was 88. Though his film career was hobbled in the 1950s because of the blacklist, he chalked up dozens of roles in later decades. He played a police chief in 1973's "Serpico," appeared in the 1974 TV movie "The Missiles of October," and was Roseanne's father in several episodes of "Roseanne.

WORCESTER -- During 43 years as partners, comedians Al Lewis and Willie Clark covered more territory on the vaudeville circuit than their namesakes did on their journey of exploration. But as Neil Simon's 1973 comedy classic "The Sunshine Boys" begins, neither would cross the street to see the other. Willie's agent, nephew Ben, hopes to unite the duo for a TV variety show to reprise their classic sketch, "The Doctor Will See You Now" -- an unlikely proposition since they can't stand each other.