What happened to Benedick Bates, Alan Batess son, who played Joey in the Boston production?
Were you able to tune out the negative reviews that The Odd Couple got, for instance? Sure. Again, that was a play I had always wanted to do in New York. And I was being asked by the author [Neil Simon] to play Oscar Madison. It was thrilling to do a first-class revival of what I think is a classic American comedy. The notion that it was some kind of get-rich-quick scheme was a little insulting—that that’s the only reason we would do that particular play. The good news and the bad news was that we were sold out before the first rehearsal, with a $21 million advance. In a sense, the critics’ power was taken away, and they were a little angry. Just the notion of Matthew [Broderick] and myself being together again seemed to annoy them, even though the public obviously wanted to see us again. Did you enjoy the experience of playing Oscar? I absolutely loved doing it, and it was something I was really proud of. It’s a terrific piece of work. So, yes, you do tune that out. You have to—you ha
