FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Eric Brockman, Victoria Theatre Association, (937) 228-7591, ext. 3078
Steven Box, The Human Race Theatre Company, (937) 461-3823, ext. 3112


STEVE MARTIN’S UNDERPANTS ON DISPLAY
AT THE LOFT THEATRE, JUNE 9 - 26
 

(Dayton, OH) – May 27, 2005 – Okay, not Steve Martin’s actual underwear! What will be on display at The Loft Theatre is the comedian and actor’s hilarious farce, The Underpants. The final production of this season’s Humana Loft Series 1, presented by Victoria Theatre Association and The Human Race Theatre Company, plays June 9 – 26.

Never underestimate the power of a glimpse of lingerie! Especially when the undergarment in question belongs to a beautiful young woman in the strict and somewhat repressed setting of 1910 Germany. Such things were just verboten in those days!

Uptight government clerk Theo Maske firmly believes his inconspicuous life and career have met their end when his lovely wife Louise’s unmentionables make an unintended public appearance. At a parade in honor of the king, Louise climbs atop a bench for a better view, but gravity plays a cruel trick – and her bloomers end up round her ankles!

In the aftermath, a room the couple has been struggling to rent at their flat suddenly becomes the hottest commodity in town. A pretentious poet and nebbish barber who witnessed the brief but sordid event move in and comically vie for another chance to glimpse Louise’s unruly underpants! And nosey neighbor Gertrude adds fuel to the passionate fires now simmering at the Maske household by urging Louise to have an affair. If Gertrude can’t have an affair of her own, she’s determined to have one vicariously via Louise and her new admirers.

Called “hilarious and bawdy” by The Village Voice, The Underpants is brimming with rapid-fire wit, farcical situations, double entendres … and perhaps a glimpse of underpants! As New York’s Daily News proclaimed, “Not since Monica Lewinsky’s thong almost toppled a presidency has a pair of panties caused such a national fuss!”

Steve Martin, best know for his string of hit movies like The Jerk, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Father of the Bride and Planes, Trains & Automobiles, is also an accomplished writer. During the 1960s, Martin was an Emmy-winning writer for The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour TV show, and he has written numerous screenplays.

As a playwright, he won accolades and several awards for Picasso at the Lapin Agile, which was presented at The Loft Theatre during the 1998-1999 season. With The Underpants, he turned his comic genius and sophisticated literary style to adapting and updating a turn-of-the-century Germany comedy by Carl Sternheim, Die Hose. The result retains the social satire of the original while adding a modern sense of humor.

The Humana Loft Series 1 production of The Underpants features Greenville native and self-professed Steve Martin devotee Moira Stone as Louise Maske. She’s been a huge fan of The Underpants since its New York premiere and is thrilled to have the opportunity to put her underpants on display at The Loft Theatre. Dayton audiences saw her on stage at The Loft last fall, in The Human Race Theatre Company’s world premiere of the musical Was. Other recent work includes She Loves Me, Show Boat and new plays in the New York Fringe, Ionesco, Soho Think Tank and Richard Foreman festivals.

Tim Lile, a resident artist with The Human Race, plays Louise’s beleaguered husband Theo. He made his Human Race debut in the last romp with Steve Martin wackiness, Picasso at the Lapin Agile. Since then, he has appeared in Human Race productions of The Odd Couple, Resident Alien, On Golden Pond, The Beauty Queen of Leenane and Art. Lile is also a professional auctioneer and president of Innovative Auctions, Inc.

The cast also features Richard Marlatt and Brian McKnight as Louise’s unwanted suitors, the poet Frank Versati and the barber Benjamin Cohen. Marlatt has worked in Chicago with Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane and The Goodman, and is a Chicago Dramatists Associate Artist and a Shaw Chicago company member. He has also studied with The Royal National Theatre and National Shakespeare Conservatory. McKnight appeared at The Loft as Langley in last season’s The Dazzle and this season’s Crimes of the Heart. McKnight is a faculty member in the Department of Theatre Dance at Sinclair Community College.

Rounding out the cast are Lisa Altomare as Gertrude and Bernard Wurger as Klinglehoff. Altomare has appeared in numerous New York and regional stage productions, as well as films and television. Wurger, who hails from Indianapolis, was seen at The Loft and the Victoria Theatre in Over the River & Through the Woods.

The Underpants is directed by Joe Deer, who is the head of Wright State University’s Musical Theatre program. Deer has directed and/or choreographed almost 100 productions in Off-Broadway, regional, summer stock and university theatres, including The Human Race’s Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Six Wives and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. He appeared in Broadway productions of Anything Goes, The Music Man, Brigadoon and The American Dance Machine, as well as numerous Off-Broadway and national touring productions.

The design team includes Dick Block (scenic designer), David Covach (costume designer), John Rensel (lighting designer) and Matthew P. Benjamin (sound designer).

The Underpants is sponsored by National City, with additional support from Whispers Fine Lingerie & Gifts and Leppla Associates. Humana Loft Series Media Sponsor is WYSO Public Radio/91.3 FM and Official Host is DoubleTree Hotel.

The Underpants is on stage at The Loft Theatre, June 9 – 26. Performance times are Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.*, and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Immediately following the Sunday, June 19 matinee, The Human Race will hold its “While We’re on the Subject” post-show discussion.

All seats are just $29 each, with discounts available for senior citizens, students and groups. Tickets are on sale now via Ticket Center Stage, with box office locations at the Victoria Theatre and Schuster Center in downtown Dayton. To order tickets by phone, call (937) 228-3630 or toll free (888) 228-3630. Ticket Center Stage hours are Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. and Saturdays (through June 18), noon - 4 p.m. The Loft Theatre box office opens two hours prior to each performance. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.ticketcenterstage.com.

For more information about Victoria Theatre Association and the Humana Loft Series 1, visit www.victoriatheatre.com. To learn more about The Human Race Theatre Company, visit www.humanracetheatre.org.

*The Saturday, June 18 performance may be sign interpreted and/or audio described upon request with two weeks advance notice to Ticket Center Stage at 937-228-3630.
 

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Victoria Theatre Association is one of Dayton’s premier arts organizations, presenting a variety of life-celebrating performances. In addition to the immensely popular Fifth Third Bank Broadway Series, Victoria Theatre Association offers the Bank One Young at Heart Family Series; the Michelob Ultra Cool Films series; Star Attractions; and the Discovery series, curriculum-enhanced live theatre productions for school children. Victoria Theatre Association is proud of its alliances with the Dayton Opera Association and the Arts Center Foundation and its collaboration on the Humana Loft Series 1 with The Human Race Theatre Company. Victoria Theatre Association receives funding from a variety of diverse public, corporate, individual and private sources, including the Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program or organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

Founded in 1986, The Human Race Theatre Company moved to the Metropolitan Arts Center in 1991, taking up residence at the 219-seat Loft Theatre. In addition to the Humana Loft Series 1, produced in collaboration with Victoria Theatre Association, The Human Race produces the Humana Loft Series 2, the Musical Theatre Workshop series, and special event programming. The Human Race, under the direction of Artistic Director Marsha Hanna and Executive Director Kevin Moore, also maintains education outreach programs for children six to 16, guest artist and artist residencies in area schools, The Muse Machine In-School Tour, Youth Summer Stock, and The Human Race Conservatory. Human Race organizational support is provided by Culture Works, Montgomery County Arts and Cultural District, Shubert Foundation and the Ohio Arts Council. The Ohio Arts Council helped fund this program or organization with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.