HONOLULU (KHON2) – Twenty-four years ago, Joe Moore and Pat Sajak came together for the first time for a show called “The Odd Couple.”
Since then, they’ve become a dynamic duo, doing many memorable shows but tonight kicks off potentially their final chapter.
It’s called “Prescription: Murder,” the original Columbo mystery thriller.
It’s all raising funds for the historic Hawaii Theatre beginning July 31, with 11 shows going into August.
Sajak plays a brilliant psychiatrist trying to get away with murder and Moore plays the disheveled, seemingly bumbling Lt. Columbo, who’s trying to prove the doctor committed the crime.
But, he has an air tight alibi.
While the story is familiar, the pair added their spin to the classic tale.
Moore is decorated with Columbo’s hair and has a bit of an accent to get into character
“Columbo is from New York but he came to work in LA so we figured we got to keep with [the accent],” Moore said.
The popular long-running crime-detective TV series “Columbo” began in 1968, but it was based off of “Prescription: Murder,” which made its original debut in 1962.
It’s a cat and mouse game of wits, culminating in a surprising climax.
“To me, the most fun about this play in anticipation of how the audience, he’s a bad guy. I mean he’s a killer,” Moore said.
After 57 years of friendship and seven plays together, this could be their final stage performance.
“Don’t hold us to this in case we do come up with, but at our age, finding plays that have two older characters,” Moore said. “We’ve done ‘The Sunshine Boys’ which is the big one, so this is likely our last time on stage together.”
But as their chapter on stage may be turning, a new one begins to emerge with the Moore’s son, Bryce.
“I grew up watching him in different roles on stage and this is my second time being on stage with him and the first time, it was a much bigger role in terms of my number of lines,” Bryce Moore said. “This one is almost just as fun though, I think, because there is one part of the play where I get to scold him. Like, you don’t get to sold you father very often.”
“Prescription: Murder,” a benefit for the Hawaii Theatre Center, runs through August 10th.
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