The Old Globe has assembled its cast of oddballs who will bring Steve Martin’s The Underpants to the San Diego stage. Performances will begin July 27 and run on extension through September 1; opening night is set for August 1.
The company will include Tony nominee Jeff Blumenkrantz (Martin’s Bright Star) as Klinglehoff, Michael Bradley Cohen (Sleep No More) as Benjamin Cohen, Tanghalang Pilipino Actors’ Company alum Regina De Vera as Louise Maske, Joanna Glushak (A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder) as Gertrude Deuter, Eddie Kaye Thomas (The Diary of Anne Frank) as Theo Maske, Luis Vega (The Humans national tour) as Frank Versati, and Kris Zarif (A Thousand Splendid Suns at the Old Globe) as King.
The Underpants marks the first Martin title to play the Globe in recent seasons, following the world premieres of Bright Star and Meteor Shower (both later playing Broadway) and the 2017 staging of Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Adapted from Carl Sternheim’s 1910 German farce Die Hose, the play follows a newlywed couple who, upon a potentially scandalous wardrobe malfunction at the royal parade, receive not scorn but unexpected infatuation and fame.
The comedy premiered at Off-Broadway’s Classic Stage Company in 2002 in a commission by Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. “[Martin] turned this strange comedy from Germany in 1910 into a fresh and riotous farce that’s suffused with Steve’s very particular brand of highbrow-lowbrow hilarity,” he said in a statement.
Walter Bobbie will direct the production, featuring sets by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Alejo Vietti, lighting by Philip S. Rosenberg, and sound design by Nevin Steinberg. Casting is by James Calleri and Paul Davis.
