STAGE REVIEWS : ‘The Nerd,’ and ‘Evita’ at PCPA Theaterfest

The annual Theaterfest of the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts is in the middle of one of its more modest seasons. Three of its six shows have been seen before at PCPA, and two of the others have been seen often in Southern California, though not at PCPA.

However, in its sixth slot, the Theaterfest is introducing Larry Shue’s “The Nerd” to, well, northern Southern California (it was seen last year at the Gaslamp Quarter Theatre in San Diego). This production is particularly noteworthy for hiring James Pickering--who portrayed “The Nerd” at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in 1981 in the first full-length production of any of Shue’s plays--to do it again.

Actually, it’s Shue season right now. The West Coast premiere of the late writer’s final play, “Wenceslas Square,” occurred Saturday at the Matrix in Los Angeles. If “Wenceslas Square” was Shue’s most serious effort, then “The Nerd” was surely his most frivolous. His most famous play, a strained farce called “The Foreigner,” is relatively profound compared to “The Nerd.”

We’re in the Terre Haute home of architect Willum Cubbert (Frederic Barbour), who’s down in the dumps on his 34th birthday. Suddenly, his life is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of someone even dumpier, Rick Steadman (Pickering). Though Willum has never seen Rick, he believes that he owes Rick his life. It was Rick who carried the unconscious Willum to safety after he was wounded in Vietnam.

The reunion is not what Willum had in mind. Rick is thoroughly unlikable--and not only from the cosmetic perspective that inspired the title of the play. Rick attempts to dominate every conversation with heedless remarks and inane games, he moves into Willum’s home without an invitation, he spoils Willum’s work. After one of Willum’s clients walks out in disgust, Rick even has the gall to run after the client, offering his own pipe-dream architectural talents in place of Willum’s real ones.

Despite the sophomoric quality of many of the jokes, the play perks along for a while on the basis of some strong comic set-ups and our expectation that Shue will take us deeper than it appears at first glance. Surely he’s gradually making a statement about co-dependency, or else he’ll show us the kernel of humanity underneath the unkempt facade of the title character, or else it’s all a metaphor for Vietnam--or something. Anything.

Sorry, but no. The play gets sillier, more manipulative, and less credible as it goes on. It features one of those annoying endings in which the rules suddenly change--for no worthwhile reason. It leaves the impression that we’re supposed to chuckle tolerantly over behavior that’s really quite reprehensible, when you think about it.

Pickering is a no-holds-barred nerd, ungainly in voice as well as posture, never for a moment begging for sympathy. It’s Willum who’s supposed to be the audience surrogate--yet Barbour is too bland and detached for the task.

Hugh Dignon’s performance as Willum’s chum, a cynical drama critic, is loud, if nothing else. In the outdoor amphitheater in Solvang, he shouted his sour wisecracks as if the entire audience were hard of hearing. Maybe he tones it down for the indoor performances in Santa Maria. James Pickering’s wife Rose Pickering plays the wife of Willum’s client with comic panache; she, too, re-creates her role from the original production.

Theaterfest managing artistic director Jack Shouse has selected “Evita” as his personally staged production this summer, and it’s a dynamic piece of work. It proves that it wasn’t just Harold Prince’s blistering proscenium staging that made “Evita” such a show.

Here, on a thrust stage, “Evita” still blazes. Perhaps composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, if not lyricist Tim Rice, deserves more credit than we realized when “Evita” first emerged a decade ago (the American premiere was at the Music Center, part of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera season--another indication of how far that organization has fallen).

The only problem with this production is the vocal range of Christina Munoz in the title role--she’s light in the upper registers, and some of her words up there are garbled. But she acts the transitions in the character with ease.

No one in the cast is in Actors’ Equity, so it really isn’t a professional production, but you’d never know it from looking at it. Sam Fontana is a short, cocky Che, and Steve Irish’s Peron is a big, cold fish with a beautiful voice.

There are no filmed projections in Shouse’s staging. But the angles of the thrust stage create their own drama in conjunction with Michael Barnard’s dances and Michael A. Peterson’s lighting. Brad Carroll is the musical director.

The Theaterfest is at the Festival Theatre, 420 2nd St., Solvang, and the Marian Theatre at Allan Hancock College, 800 S. College Drive, Santa Maria.

“The Nerd” plays Solvang Sunday, Aug. 9, 11, 12, 24, 31 and Sept. 5, all at 8:30 p.m. It’s in Santa Maria at 8:30 p.m. on Aug. 19 and Sept. 8, 14 and 16, and at 2 p.m. Aug. 16 and 20 and Sept. 9.

“Evita” is in Solvang Aug. 15, 28 and 30 and Sept. 2, 10, 11, 14 and 15, all at 8:30 p.m. It plays Santa Maria Aug. 18, 26 and Sept. 7 at 8:30 p.m. and Aug. 19, 23 and 27 at 2 p.m.

Also playing this summer are “A Man for All Seasons,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “The Fantasticks” and “Quilters.” Tickets: $8.50-$15.50; (800) 221-9469.