Photo Credit: Michael Brosilow
It’s been 38 years since Larry Shue’s The Nerd premiered at the Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Much has changed since then. Shue tragically died in 1985 in a plane crash at age 39; the play ran on Broadway in 1987 with Mark Hamill (yes, Luke Skywalker) in the cast; and it became a staple for many theaters worldwide. The Nerd is considered a modern masterpiece of slapstick humor. The newly opened production of The Nerd makes the fourth time The Rep has mounted the play, and the show remains just as funny and fresh, given Shue’s knack for clever and corny wordplay, as well as a cast that serves the material well.
Director JC Clementz honed his comedic skills with past Rep shows like Murder for Two and The Doyle & Debbie Show in the intimate Stackner Cabaret. Now in the much larger Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, he’s been given plenty of space to use every bit of the stage for all the visual gags that abound in The Nerd.
The actual “nerd” is Rick Steadman—an oblivious, obnoxious, unexpected guest who turns up at the birthday party of fellow war vet, architect Willum Cubbert (played in the original production by Shue himself). Seems that Steadman saved Willum’s life during the war 16 years earlier, so now he’s shown up to collect on that long-ago promise for help. Big mistake, but puh-lenty of laughs for the audience.
Willum and friends try to figure out a way to get rid of the unwanted nerd who’s become a houseguest and interferes with every part of Willum’s life. That is, until, Willum and company hatch a plot to “out-nerd” the nerd to get him to leave. Umm...nice try. The sight gags are many and a key part of the comedic success of The Nerd. It’s not easy playing for laughs, especially with all the physical timing in this show. But this cast does it all so very well.
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As the nerd, Michael Doherty makes Steadman a believable and, at times, sympathetic character given how out of touch and out of step he is with the world around him, and the rest of the cast falls right into place. As sharp-tongued, too-witty theater critic Axel Hammond, Jeremy Peter Johnson is a standout. His comedic timing and nonverbal gestures keep the show running on high voltage. The clever plot twist at the end still works as well today as did so many years ago.
While Shue’s playwriting career was short-lived, his love for laughter and entertaining audiences continues to live on with this fine production of The Nerd, and that is reason enough to see it, anticipating the miles of smiles to come.
Through Dec. 15 in the Quadracci Powerhouse Theater, 108 E. Wells St.
