Now Playing at
Tennessee Rep

May 1–17, 2008
Polk Theater, TPAC

Review

May 8, 2008

Nifty Knickers
The Rep’s take on Steve Martin play combines flash and finesse

by Martin Brady for Nashville Scene

Tennessee Repertory Theatre’s current mounting of The Underpants, Steve Martin’s adaptation of German playwright Carl Sternheim’s 1910 farce, shows just how far production values can go in goosing the entertainment factor. The play was first mounted here in 2006 by Actors Bridge Ensemble, a quaintly inspired production that hit all the marks and did Martin justice. The Rep does equally well with the text—but with the advantages of the broad-canvas Polk Theater proscenium and a serious budget for sets and costumes, the company brings a highly professional sheen to the endeavor, the likes of which we rarely see locally.

The Underpants follows the events that transpire after a young woman unexpectedly drops her panties during the king’s
procession. Instant admirers start to visit her in search of a rented room, and our heroine, married to an uptight and very regimented government clerk, toys with the possibility of an affair. Martin’s thin plot introduces six cartoonish characters whose comedic eccentricities combine with the playwright’s tongue-in-cheek banter, double entendres and sly social satire over the course of 90 or so minutes, delivered in one long act.

Gary Hoff’s set is a minor masterwork: a colorful turn-of-the-20th-century Dusseldorf home, featuring rich-looking woods and canny decorative touches. Trish Clark’s costumes are also period-conscious, with fitting attention to romance and German stereotypes. Michael Barnett’s lighting design elicits a candy-coated visual sense that is very apropos to the loopy tale.

Director Lane Davies smartly exploits the wide playing area, and there’s as much interplay within the scenes as there is during the many entrances and exits that typify traditional farce. His thoughtful blocking enables his actors to score consistent laughs with their droll repartee.

The fine cast is headed up by Marin Miller as hausfrau Louise Maske, surprised by her unwanted notoriety but more than willing to investigate the sexual possibilities suddenly before her. Miller is delightfully wry, nicely balancing naïveté with naughtiness. Her boorish hubby, Theo, is played by Marc Silver, a California colleague of director Davies in his Rep debut. His is a literate, energetic turn, though not as dark as Matthew Carlton’s portrayal two years ago. In so doing, Silver definitely provides an interesting take on the play’s most controversial role.

Patrick Waller is a charmer as the poet Versati, declaring his passion for Louise with great flourish, then becoming more absorbed in his need to versify. Bobby Wyckoff is the barber Cohen, a subtle caricature who must avoid dropping clues about his Jewishness within earshot of the overbearing, not-so-veiled anti-Semite Theo. Samuel Whited maximizes his briefer moments as the dour prude Klinglehoff, then brings down the house with an incongruously salacious exclamation.

As the nosy neighbor Gertrude, Martha Wilkinson makes yet another joyous stage appearance, mixing well-defined movement with brassy declarations and reveling in her character’s vicarious pleasure at Louise’s newfound popularity. Davies makes a humorous grandstanding cameo as the king himself at play’s end.

A musical underscore effectively blends polkas with some clichéd classical strains. (Only nitpickers will care that “The Pennsylvania Polka” wasn’t published until 1942, some 30 years after the play’s setting.)

Driven by its directorial verve and wonderful technical virtues, The Rep’s Underpants is replendent, consistently entertaining theater.

 

2008–2009 Season Auditions set for May 12 and 13.

 

Tennessee Rep Education and Outreach Event for Steve Martin’s The Underpants

READ with the REP
Tennessee Rep is pleased to continue its celebration of the many talents of Steve Martin by hosting a special book discussion group which will feature his novel Shopgirl

Appropriate audience: high school and above. 

For ticket holders only
Saturday, May 10, 6:00 PM (prior to performance)
Polk Theater Lobby, TPAC
505 Deaderick Street, Downtown

Since 1985, the Tennessee Repertory Theatre has been a flagship for regional theatre by creating the highest quality professional
productions and by serving as a prime cultural, educational, and economic resource within the Nashville and Middle Tennessee
communities. Tennessee Rep produces work that is designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville by highly skilled actors, designers,
directors, and technicians. A non-profit organization, Tennessee Rep is committed to consistently delivering edgy, thought-provoking theatre each year.

 

Tuesday, April 1, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tennessee Rep Wants You to See Its Underpants! Rollicking Farce by Steve Martin Set to Open May 1

Performance Schedule:
The Underpants
May 1 – May 17 at TPAC’S Polk Theater
Thursday, May 1, 6:30 PM
Friday, May 2, 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 3, 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 8, 6:30 PM
Friday, May 9, 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 10, 7:30 PM
Thursday, May 15, 6:30 PM
Friday, May 16, 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 17, 2:30 PM (signed performance) and 7:30 PM

Tickets: $10-$40 (some restrictions apply). Tickets are on sale at the TPAC Box Offices (at 505 Deaderick Street in Downtown
Nashville and at Davis-Kidd Booksellers in the Mall at Green Hills) and at all Ticketmaster outlets. Tickets are available by phone or internet order at the following: (615) 255-ARTS, www.ticketmaster.com or www.tennesseerep.org.

Nashville, TN—Tennessee Repertory Theatre is showing off its underpants… the play, that is.The Underpants runs May 1 – 17 in
the Polk Theater at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, 505 Deaderick Street. This rollicking farce has been adapted by America’s
favorite “wild and crazy guy” Steve Martin from the original play by Carl Sternheim.

Adapting Carl Sternheim’s sociopolitical farce from 1910 into a wildly burlesque romp appealing to a modern audience, Steve Martin drops Sternheim’s dated political satire and stresses instead the absurdity of instant fame and the unexpected opportunities it presents to people such as Louise Maske, the play’s protagonist. The result might be termed an “anti-bedroom” farce, since the various sexual pairings and recombinations of characters which develop during this play, some of them devoutly wished for, remain outside the
bedroom.

While Louise Maske is waiting for the king to pass by in Dusseldorf, 1910, the fastener on her underpants releases, and they fall about
her ankles. In a matter of seconds, she has grabbed them and hidden them, and she expects that few, if any, people have noticed. Her husband Theo, however, a government clerk, is furious and fears that he may be fired from his job for her gaffe.

The Tennessee Rep production of The Underpants features MTSU alumnus Lane Davies as special guest director. Davies is most famous for his role as Mason Capwell in the soap opera Santa Barbara and has a wide range of television, movie, and stage credits to his name. He also appeared in Tennessee Rep’s production of I Hate Hamlet last season.

Davies outwardly expresses his enthusiasm about directing this play for Tennessee Repertory Theatre and embraces the humor in
Martin’s adaptation. “Try to imagine a very successful and funny farce from the turn of the 20th Century,” says Davies. “Now imagine it in the editorial hands of Steve Martin. You get the point…”

Steve Martin is one of today’s most talented performers. He has had huge success as a film actor, with such credits as Roxanne, Father of the Bride, Parenthood, L.A. Story, and countless others. He’s won Emmy’s for his television writing and two Grammies for comedy albums. In addition to his two New York Times bestsellers, Shopgirl and Pure Drivel, he has also written nine screenplays and another play, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Martin has been lauded as a comedy genius, and rightfully so.

“The most daunting task before this cast will be trying not to crack up during performance,” proclaims Davies.

Davies and Tennessee Rep Producing Artistic Director René Copeland have assembled an all-star cast that will feature Nashville’s own Marin Miller in the lead role. “I’ve directed Marin in comedies, dramas – the range of her talent is wide and her commitment to her craft makes her always compelling to watch on stage,” says Copeland. “And underneath all that, she’s a genuine, truly fine person, and it’s always a joy to work with her. When choosing The Underpants as one of our shows this season, I freely confess that I couldn’t NOT picture Marin playing the central character of Louise, and I’m just delighted that she accepted the role.”

The cast also features Marc Silver, Patrick Waller, Sam Whited, Martha Wilkinson, and Bobby Wycoff. When asked about the cast, Davies explains, “Never in my entire career in theatre have I had a more perfect cast for a play.”

As with all Tennessee Rep productions, The Underpants reflects a local product, with local actors, sets that have been designed and
constructed locally, and costumes that were designed and crafted locally.

Since 1985, the Tennessee Repertory Theatre is a flagship regional theatre, creating the highest quality professional productions and by serving as a prime cultural, educational, and economic resource within the Nashville and Middle Tennessee communities. Tennessee Rep produces work that is designed, built, and rehearsed in Nashville by highly skilled actors, designers, directors, and technicians. A non-profit organization, Tennessee Rep is committed to consistently delivering edgy, thought-provoking theatre each year. For more information on the Tennessee Repertory Theatre, please visit www.tennesseerep.org.

# # #

Guest Director Lane Davies and Actress Marin Miller are available for live or taped interviews beginning Monday, April 14 (earlier by special arrangement).

Complimentary seats are available for media representatives at the performances on the following evenings:
Friday, May 2 at 7:30 PM
Saturday, May 3 at 7:30 PM

Please contact Pat Patrick at pat@tennesseerep.org to inquire about availability.