Whoopi May Have to Settle for Limousine : Theater

The problem with the Super Bowl weekend, as far as the San Diego Repertory Theatre is concerned, is that it is hard to get a jet when you need one.

And the person the Rep needs one for is none other than Whoopi Goldberg, the Rep alumna (anyone remember her as one of the three Miss Fezziwigs in an early version of the Rep’s annual “A Christmas Carol”?) who is giving two benefit comedy performances to help reduce San Diego Rep’s $300,000 debt on Thursday and Friday at the Lyceum Main Stage in Horton Plaza.

The plan is to whisk Goldberg away Thursday from the Mojave Desert, where she is shooting “Homer and Eddie” with Jim Belushi, and return her to work after her Friday show.

It’s a benefit that Goldberg and Sam Woodhouse, managing director of the San Diego Rep, have been talking about for years. “Living on the Edge of Chaos,” a combination of old and new material, was settled on as the kickoff for a 10-city tour. The tour was canceled when Goldberg was tapped to replace Richard Pryor, the original lead for “Homer and Eddie,” but Goldberg decided to give her benefit performances here anyway--which pleased, but didn’t surprise, Woodhouse, who has known her for about 10 years.

“She gives a great deal of her time to causes and issues she thinks are important--to the point where she is in rehearsal for a movie and in the first two weeks she’s doing five nights of benefits (including the two nights for San Diego Rep). “She really does care . . . you don’t see that very much.”

And while they are still looking for a jet, the Rep does concede that in this case a limousine might have to do.