The Nerd Was the Word

The Blair Academy Players presented The Nerd, a play by Larry Shue, on May 6, 7 and 8 in the Wean Studio Theater of Armstrong-Hipkins Center for the Arts. The Nerd is set in Terre Haute, Indiana, in the mid-2000s. This comedy depicts a few days in the life of Willum Cubbert (Jordon Arnold ’11) whose life was saved by Rick Steadman (Evan Silver ’11), a man he has never met, during Operation Desert Storm. At this time in his life, Willum’s job as an architect is about to skyrocket due to a project he received from hotel entrepreneur Warnock Waldgrave (Javier Tejada ’12) who is accompanied by his stressed wife, Clelia (Caitlin Campbell ’10) and bratty daughter Brunhilda (Maddie Michaud ’13). He is even more excited when he hears that Rick Steadman will be in town. Yet, upon meeting him, Willum realizes that the saying “never meet your heroes” is very true. Rick is “quirky” to say the least. Willum’s best friends and fellow tenants, Axel Hammond (Dan Cioffi ’11) and Tansy McGinnis (Kim VanderVoort ’10), not only help him deal with Rick’s unbearable nature but also try to help Willum drum up enough courage to kick him out. In this side-splitting show, Willum is confronted with and torn between many choices, but one thing is for sure, the audience will definitely want to stay for the surprise twist at the end.

Director Micki Kaplan McMillan said, “I think everyone has encountered in his or her life, at one time, that person who seemed to be completely oblivious to social cues. Certainly an appreciation of Shue’s play may come somewhat from the fact that the audience can sit back and just laugh at the attempts of the characters to accept the nerd at first, and then to be rid of him.”

Jen Shields ’10 was student director of the play, while Rita Maquieira ’10 and Asia Bryant ’10 assisted with props and costumes.

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Updated 5/10/2010

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