The Nevada Conservatory Theatre invites audiences to revel in a laugh-out-loud farce with Steve Martin’s uproarious adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s The Underpants Oct. 4-18 in the Black Box Theatre. Tickets are available here. Student, staff, military, and senior discounts are available.
When Louise’s bloomers accidentally slip down in public, her husband Theo fears his reputation is ruined forever. But instead of disgrace, the incident sparks a whirlwind of comic chaos as suitors line up, jealousies ignite, and social conventions unravel. With biting wit and a sharp eye for the absurd, Steve Martin transforms this classic German satire into a side-splitting comedy about sex, fidelity, and vanity. The Underpants is a hilarious romp through the pretensions of middle-class respectability.
The NCT is delighted to have Michael Lugering fresh off its smash hit Murder on the Orient Express to direct The Underpants. Lugering is a celebrated director and theatre educator, who brings his signature blend of physical comedy and expressive staging to this fast-paced farce.
“Steve Martin is seriously funny.” says Lugering, “We know him from Saturday Night Live and Only Murders in the Building, comedy films, stand up, and television. What is less known is that he is a seriously funny comedic writer. His play The Underpants, a farsical adaptation of Carl Sternheim’s 1910 play, is crafty, bawdy, witty, funny, quirky, and speedy. A laugh out loud good time from America’s master comedian.“
The NCT is also excited to welcome guest artists Nick Huff, Taylor Hanes, and Arles Estes. Nick Huff makes his NCT debut as Cohen. Huff is a stage and screen actor and a member of prestigious The Actors Gang theatre company in Culver City, California. Taylor Hanes is a long-time NCT veteran who recently played Falstaff in last year’s joyous Merry Wives of Windsor. The show will also include the outstanding Arles Estes, a brilliant sound designer and composer.
The production will feature members of the MFA Professional Training Program in the Nevada Conservatory Theatre, alongside gifted undergraduates and guest artists, all bringing Martin’s witty, outrageous characters to life.
Carl Sternheim
Carl Sternheim (1878-1942) was a German playwright and short story writer. Sternheim found success in the 1910s poking fun at the burgeoning German middle class in a series of plays he called “Scenes from the Heroic Life of the Middle Class,” of which DIE HOSE (THE UNDERPANTS) (1911) was one. His other plays include THE BOX (1912), BURGHER SCHIPPEL (1913), THE SNOB (1914), 1913 (1915), and TABULA RASA (1916).
Steve Martin
As an actor, comedian, author, playwright, screenwriter, producer, and musician — Steve Martin is one of the most diversified performers and acclaimed artists of his generation. Martin has been successful as a writer of and performer in some of the most popular movies of recent film history — appearing in more than 50 films over the course of his career. With titles such as Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Parenthood, Father of the Bride, and Cheaper by the Dozen franchises, Martin’s films are the kind that are viewed again and again.
Martin wrote the screenplays for some of his most celebrated films including The Jerk, Roxanne, Bowfinger, L.A. Story, and Shopgirl. Martin’s first film was a seven-minute short he wrote and starred in, The Absent-Minded Waiter. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film, Live Action in 1977. Martin’s work has earned him an Academy Award®, five Grammy® awards, an Emmy®, the Mark Twain Award, an AFI Lifetime Achievement Award and the Kennedy Center Honors. He has also hosted the Academy Awards® three times.
Michael Lugering
Michael Lugering is a master teacher of voice, movement and acting. Lugering has spent over 15 years researching the physical, psychological, behavioral and aesthetic aspects of human expression. The Lugering Method marks a revolutionary departure from traditional methods of actor training. In this truly integrated technique the voice and body, thought and feeling, sound and movement, psyche and soma are synthesized in the practical exploration of expression action. Lugering’s new book THE EXPRESSIVE ACTOR: An Integrated Method of Voice, Movement & Actor Training is published by Heinemann Drama Books.
Lugering has taught master classes in acting, voice, movement and classical text at theatre conferences and Professional Acting Training Programs throughout the United States, Korea, and in the United Kingdom. Recent acting credits include JOE: performed in Las Vegas, Monaco, Scotland, Los Angeles, Liverpool, Japan, and Quebec. Additionally, Lugering is a passionate director noted for his innovative approach to the classics. He has served as a professional voice coach for the Utah Shakespearean Festival and the Nevada Conservatory Theatre.
Cast List
- Andrew Trevino - Theo Maske
- Cynthia Nesbit - Louise Maske
- Kate Critchfield - Gertrude Deuter
- Agustin Ballesteros - Frank Versati
- Nick Huff - Benjamin Cohen
- Tayler Hanes* - Klinglehoff
- Rydia Freeman - The King
- Daniel Vaughn - Ensemble
- Tammi McMaster - Ensemble
- Sapphire Haywood - Ensemble
Creative Team
- Michael Lugering - Director
- Andrew E. Taylor - Scenic Designer
- Daniel Ly - Assistant Scenic Artist
- Danielle Aikens- Prop Shop Manager
- Momo Sugawara - Props Artists
- Katherine Gould - Costume Designer
- Andee Roby - Lighting Designer
- Arles Estes - Sound Designer
- Christian Martinez Marquez - Production Stage Manager
- Will Netherly - Stage Manager
- Kipper Redmond - Assistant Stage Manager
- Cameron Cox - Crew Lead and Associate Production Manager
- Aya Giardina - Technical Director
