George Woods returns to try on ‘The Underpants’

TOM TITUS

When a role in Steve Martin’s comedy “The Underpants” suddenly opened

just as the Laguna Playhouse was starting rehearsals, director Andrew

Barnicle made a quick telephone call.

It was a local call. Longtime Laguna Beach resident and veteran

professional actor George Woods just happened to have some free time.

Woods is one of the most familiar of figures on the Laguna stage,

but he hasn’t trod the local boards since his appearance in another

Martin play, “Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” some five years ago.

“I wasn’t doing anything at the time when I got the call from

Andy,” Woods recalled. “He asked me, ‘What are you doing for the next

two months?’ So, I went over and sat in on the first read-through,

and what a great cast. They really knocked me out.”

Woods -- who qualifies as a senior citizen but won’t say exactly

how senior -- has been taking it easy these days, sticking close to

home and doing television work, voice-overs and narrations. With a

robust stage voice like his, he’ll always be in demand.

His last theatrical role was as “an aging gay Shakespearean actor”

in a play called “Bed and Breakfast” in Key West, Fla., for director

Joan McGillis, formerly of Newport Beach, and the mother of screen

actress Kelly McGillis.

Woods began performing eons ago, but “dropped out for about 20

years.” He credits former playhouse managing director Doug Rowe with

“starting me up again” back in the 1970s.

His Laguna credits include “Ah, Wilderness,” “Painting Churches,”

“Noises Off,” “First Monday in October,” “Beyond Reasonable Doubt,”

“The Crucifer of Blood” (as Sherlock Holmes) and “A Midsummer Night’s

Dream” (as Bottom).

As for his role in “The Underpants,” which opens Saturday night,

“I’m playing an elderly German scientist who comes looking for a

room. I’m on stage maybe 15 minutes. That’s all I want these days.”

Woods waxes nostalgic for the “old playhouse,” which he says was

“like a little rep company, so much fun. It’s been a kick all the way

through. Doug really created a monster.”

“The Underpants” is wild-and-crazy-guy Martin’s adaptation of a

1910 comedy by German playwright Carl Sternheim. It centers on an

officious, puritanical bureaucrat who berates his wife for letting

her title garments fall to the ground at a parade for the king. This

leads to a succession of prospective tenants knocking at the fellow’s

door to rent a room and, perhaps, seduce his wife.

“The Underpants” will play through May 1 at the playhouse, with

performances Tuesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8

p.m., and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. Tickets may be reserved by calling

(949) 497-2787.