Lane is suffering from laryngitis, causing the cancellation of the Jan. 18 and Jan. 19 performances.

Garrett—who originally played Murray the Cop in the revival and was understudy for Lane until he left the production at the end of his contract on Jan. 1—was in California when he received the call from the producers.

He will give his first performance on Friday, Jan. 20.

In past interviews, Garrett expressed his hope that he would graduate to the Oscar role at some point in the sold-out engagement.

Lane is expected to return to the show next week.

*

Lane and Broderick recently extended their stays in the limited run until June 4.

The engagement was originally scheduled to conclude on April 2. The extra weeks will allow hungry theatregoers a new chance to see the sold-out play. It will also mean that the comedy will be running when the Tony nominations are announced.

Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick opened as Oscar and Felix on Oct. 28, 2005, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.

Mike Starr recently took over the role of Murray the Cop in the Joe Mantello revival. He replaced Brad Garrett.

The sold-out production also features Peter Frechette (Roy), Lee Wilkof (Vinnie) and Rob Bartlett (Speed), and Pigeon Sisters Jessica Stone (Cecily) and Olivia d'Abo (Gwendolyn).

Starr is best known for his role on the TV series "Ed." On Broadway, he appeared in The Guys in the Truck and Requiem for a Heavyweight.

The Odd Couple is produced by Ira Pittelman, Jeffrey Sine, Ben Sprecher, Max Cooper, Scott E. Nederlander and Emanuel Azenberg.