(The cast of The Nerd / Mike Olivieri)

Xavier Dramatics Entertains in Performance of The Nerd

On December 11, 12, and 13, Xavier Dramatics put on several outstanding performances of the acclaimed two-act comedy The Nerd, written by playwright Larry Shue in 1981. Throughout the weekend, the acting collective entertained many students, family, faculty and friends in the Xavier Commons. This marked the end of a very busy month for Xavier Arts, during which Freshman Drama, the Acoustic Coffeehouse and finally Xavier Dramatics all put on performances.

The play revolves around the life of one Willum Cubbert, who lives in Terre Haute, Indiana in the late 1970s. Willum, an architect and landlord, must deal with the antics of an actor disguised as an old nerdy friend, who attempts to make Willum’s life a living hell in order to help him reorganize his priorities. There are only seven characters in the play, a smaller cast than what is typical for Xavier Dramatics. However, this meant that the cast was especially close, perhaps more so than usual, and they were well-equipped to perfect and improvise upon their role to create nuanced and dynamic character portrayals. T.J. Gray ’15 played Willum in his onstage debut, while dramatics veteran Nicholas Gangone ’15 played the titular nerd who moves in with Willum. Peter Boustani ’16, Nicholas Careaga ’16, and Ray Park ’16 rounded out the Xavier cast members, while Maura O’Halloran ’15 (Notre Dame) and Flannery Gallagher ’16 (Dominican Academy) came from neighboring all-girls schools to help out with the female roles.

Faculty members Ms. Nicole DiMarco and Mr. Martin Lopez served respectively as the play’s director and producer. Ms. Lisa Hickman served as assistant director. Additionally, freshman John Giouvalakis ’18 designed the flyer, and sophomore Rohan Fisher ’17 managed the stage crew. Many other students helped out on stage crew, which was moderated by Mr. Peter Quartuccio ’02.
The play was extremely successful. The cast hit all the right comedic notes. According to Ms. DiMarco, “The Nerd was one of my all-time favorite plays to direct. The kids were so committed to the success of the production.” Ms. DiMarco was also impressed by the performance of T.J. Gray, who made his Xavier Dramatics debut after several years on the football gridiron and the rugby pitch. “For his first time on stage, T.J. excelled, though this was not a surprise. When he played football, he practiced constantly throughout the week and played without any inhibitions. These attributes are also necessary for success in the theatre, so he adjusted perfectly to what we do onstage.”

Before we conclude, the Advancement team would like to congratulate Xavier Dramatics once more, as well as all who helped out from behind the scenes, for putting on such a successful production. Bravo!

The Xavier Dramatics staff has already announced the spring musical, which will be the Meredith Wilson classic The Music Man. Auditions will be held on January 8th and 9th from 3PM to 5PM in OD2, and rehearsals will begin shortly thereafter. For more information, please contact Ms. Nicole DiMarco or Mr. Martin Lopez, or visit Xavier Dramatics online.