filmland / By Charlie Myers

Shue, nerd — NCRT’s new production trapped in the ’80s

It was a quality of the Reagan years — that mean-spirited putdown of intelligence in favor of the beer-swilling idiot as ideal American male, which not really coincidentally defined a marketing niche for beer and other products by attaching them to this purposefully limiting male cliché.

In the ’80s, when the personal computer revolution was just beginning, the term was particularly applied to computer enthusiasts. There are two problems with this: First, it doesn’t apply to “the nerd” in the play, who inspects chalk for a living and can’t run a primitive answering machine. Second, in 2007 it’s obsolete. Though these days some of these qualities adhere to what’s called “a geek,” the nerd stereotype has been diluted and defeated by time. The last movie with “nerd” in the title was Triumph of the Nerd in 1996 — a documentary featuring Bill Gates, Paul Allen and Steve Jobs. Who wouldn’t want them at their dinner party?

Coming up

The Ferndale Repertory Theatre production of a Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical, The Sound of Music , begins next week and runs throughout the month of August. Co-directed by Vikki Young and Marilyn McCormick, the large cast (replete with young and younger) is headed by Jenaha Hochhalter, Bill Cose, Ariel Graham, John McKinney and Geri Cose. Preview night is Thursday, Aug. 2, and the opening night event is Friday, Aug. 3, at 8 p.m.

The story is based on the exploits of the Trapp family, who climbed every mountain carrying their favorite things as they escaped the Nazi invasion of Austria, while bringing the hills alive with the sound of music. The Rep notes that it is “one of the best loved musicals of all time,” and if you’re one of those who love it, this is your chance to see and hear it live.

The Humboldt Light Opera Company opens its summer production, the Tony Award-winning TITANIC: A New Musical on Aug. 3 at the Van Duzer Theatre on the HSU campus. It’s based on actual events and testimonials of survivors rather than the characters James Cameron invented for his famous movie. The production features a full orchestra and a tilting stage. It plays Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. the first three weekends of August, with 2 p.m. matinees on Aug. 12 and 18.

Beginning Aug. 9 and also playing for most of the month at the Arcata Playhouse, the Shake the Bard Company presents its production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night , directed by Linnea Conway. Meanwhile, Arcata Shakespeare in the Park (where Conway previously directed) continues its production of As You Like It , directed by Joshua Stanfield Switzer, until Aug.11.

Check the calendar for more details. For more news and views, tune into stagematters.blogspot.com.

1 2 SHARE