Press Release

The Underpants 
By Steve Martin - Comedy
May 9, 10 11,16,17,18,23,24

What happens when comedian Steve Martin gets his hands on an obscure 1910 satire by German playwright Carl Sternheim. He turns it into a bawdy farce called The Underpants, bursting with bad puns, goofy pratfalls, intellectual name-dropping, hilarious one-liners and witty social insights. Tom Fallon, co-director of our smash hit The Pirates of Penzance, brings his over-the-top comic touch to this gleefully silly material. With a long career in professional theatre and film production, Tom has called on an astonishing array of talent, including Set Designer Ham Waddell, legendary for his many years at the Alhambra Dinner Theatre, and his own wife Tina Fallon, as Costumer. Tina co-directed The Pirates of Penzance and was Fletcher High School's long-time Drama Teacher.

The plot may be just an excuse for silly behavior and comic observations about our obsession with sex, celebrity and social conformity, but it's a doozy. Proper and punctilious Theo Maske is a low-level civil servant in 1910 Dusseldorf, in the heyday of the German Empire. He is furious and scandalized when his adorable young wife Louise accidentally drops her bloomers during the King's parade. Practical and unpretentious, Louise assures Theo that she quickly retrieved the wayward undergarment before it was noticed, but worry-wart Theo prophesies disgrace and ruin. Contrary to his fears, two entranced men appear, anxious to rent a room and get a better look at Louise. One is Frank, a handsome, romantic poet who sweeps Louise off her feet with his flowery declarations of love, and the other is Benjamin Cohen, a nervous hypochondriac barber, who is as intent on seduction as he is on convincing everyone that he is not Jewish. They go to increasingly-desperate lengths to
out-maneuver each other and gain Louise's favors. Nosy upstairs neighbor Gertrude encourages Louise to give into an affair since her husband doesn't appreciate her charms and prepares to vicariously enjoy the romantic shenanigans.

Stuffy Theo is played by Tom Ming, who demonstrated his comic talents in A Tuna Chistmas and The Pirates of Penzance. Tom teaches drama at Fletcher High School. The luscious Louise is played by Jen Mears, who was last seen as Violet in It's a Wonderful Life. Her suitors Frank and Benjamin are played by two of our favorite and most reliable character actors, Paul Rowe and Leonard Alterman. A Past President and Pelican Award Winner for his role as Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird, Paul was last seen as a shady smuggler turned Nazi in Cabaret, so playing a practiced seducer marks a light-hearted change of pace. Leonard is an accomplished veteran of every stage in Jacksonville, with a wide range of comic and dramatic roles to his credit. PBTS audiences will remember him as a memorably fussy and frenetic Felix in The Odd Couple and in another Neil Simon hit, The Last of the Red Hot Lovers. Amy Allen Farmer plays the prurient neighbor Gertrude. Amy was last seen in A Grand Night for Singing and The Pirates of Penzance. She'll be appearing this June in Blues in the Night.

Veteran actor Redgie Gutshall shows up late in the play as Klinglehoff, yet another applicant for the vacant room, but one whose unusual point of view could only have sprung from the twisted comic genius of Steve Martin. Earlier this season, Redgie was the endearing grocer in Cabaret and the hard-hearted banker in It's a Wonderful Life. He's a Pelican Award winner for Anna in the Tropics and The Dark at Top of the Stairs. Walter Condon, making his PBTS stage debut, puts in a surprise appearance at the end of the play and has the hilarious topper as the King himself.
Leewood Oakley is a young but very experienced and capable Stage Manager. She has stage-managed at Fletcher High and can be found behind the scenes at most PBTS productions. Leewood has been part of our PBTS theatre education programs practically since infancy!

Margie Cox is Props Mistress. Look for charming 1910 décor and ambiance. The Lighting and Sound Design is by the Director himself, Tom Fallon.
Since its 2002 Broadway debut, The Underpants has been a rollicking hit at regional and community theatres all across the country. Players by the Sea is delighted to be the first to bring it to you in Jacksonville

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