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Show ran 's "Herd" is a:barral:9f laughs. By Sharon Gholdston Who was it said "laughter is the best medicine?" I forget, but one thing I do know is that after seeing see-ing a Friday night production of "The Nerd" at Springville's Villa Playhouse; I shouldn't need to make a trip to the drugstore for at least a year (unless it's for muscle relaxants). - This is a seriously funny (hilarious, (hilari-ous, hysterical, side-splitting, roll-ing-in-the-aisle) play that left members of Friday's sizeable audience au-dience literally holding their aching ach-ing sides and howling with pleasure. plea-sure. Am I, perhaps, overstating-a overstating-a bit? Based on my own reaction, my partner's and other audience members, I think not. The play is a zany combination of old fashioned sight gags coupled with machine gun-like repartee and biting one-liners. "The Nerd," written by Larry Shue and directed by Springville's Robinne Booth, is set sometime in the mid 1970s. The plot, which is somewhat thin (but who cares when a play is this funny), revolves around the 34th birthday of Willum (played by Kevin Gulledge). His starry-eyed starry-eyed girlfriend, Tansy (Olivia Dunkley) and good friend, Axel (Robert Land) have teamed up to give him a surprise party. While the party is no surprise to the birthday birth-day boy; the guests certainly are. The guests include "The Nerd," himself (played by Peter Brown); "Ticky" Waldgrave (Lon Keith); his wife, Clelia (Kathy Llewellyn and their totally out-of-control son, Thor (Jake Booth). This cast performs the play on Friday and Monday nights; while a second cast does the duty on Thursday and Saturday night. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. each night. Willum's big birthday surprise is the unexpected arrival of Rick Waldgrave-the man who saved his life in Viet Nam and whom he hasn't seen since. Rick just happens hap-pens to be the most outrageous, irritating, rudest and nerdiest "Nerd," ever to set foot in Terra Haute, Ind. Brown, who has played this role on two or three , other occasions (including a stint , at Hale Theatre) is absolutely per-! per-! feet as "The Nerd," complete with I clip-on tie, tape on his glasses, ' pocket protector and home study tambourine course. His rendition jS "FUE UOL-'lili LIUVL J y ; ; IP'S A&fP -.IIl - ; : I ttVl 220S.MainSpringville hjMl I J "S -VV ft)" 489-4221 WlWy U ....................... . . . . ......... iiiin - -miif of "The Star Spangled Banner," with tambourine, at the end of act one was painfully funny. Even silence si-lence is funny when Brown (who plays the part in both casts) is on stage. Lon Keith (father), Kathy , Llewellyn (mother) and Jake Booth (son) as the uproariously funny, yet dysfunctional Waldgrave family add some of the most delightful and most physical of the play's many comedic moments. mo-ments. All three perform their-delightful their-delightful character parts to the nth degree and with the skill of seasoned sea-soned comedians. Land (who plays Axel, the jaded theatre reviewer) has a piercing wit and brings down the house when he describes the Waldgrave's boy terror as "the poster child for Planned Parenthood. Parent-hood. " Tansy says he is bitter and cynical because he "works for a morning newspaper and has never gotten to see the last half hour of anything he has ever reviewed." Dunkley (as Tansy) is attractive and comfortable in her role as the winsome girlfriend whose dream is to become the "Washington weather girl." Gulledge seems a bit stiff at first in his role as Willum, the handsome, hand-some, square-jawed Viet Nam vet who is striving to build a successful success-ful career as an architect. But he warms up (and loosens up) as the hilarity begins with the arrival of the guests. , All seven cast members work extremely well together, making for delightful ensemble. Direction by Booth is tight, and her management man-agement of the play's many fast-moving fast-moving comedy scenes is excellent. excel-lent. If the first 15 or 20 minutes of the play seems to drag a bit, you may actually find yourself feeling grateful for the slow start later in the play when you begin gasping for a breath between laugh lines. The set (dressed by Kim Restad) is an eye pleasing concoction of brass, ebony and wicker which definitely evokes the 70s. There is even a lava lamp on the fireplace. fire-place. The only thing I could find to complain about was the lack of a synopsis of scenes in the program which made it a little hard to get oriented during the opening mo- Knowledge Gain helps children Knowledge Gain Learning Center was recognized and approved ap-proved for membership by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, an elite organization organiza-tion requiring the highest standards stan-dards of education for accreditation accredita-tion of course work. Knowledge Gain is committed to teaching students "how to learn" and providing successful learning experiences for every student. Children are born with a delight in learning, but repeated struggles can dash their desire and diminish their enthusiasm. Professionals agree that personal attention and individual instruction instruc-tion are the key to learning success. suc-cess. Positive experiences through individualized programs with dedicated educators builds confidence, motivation and self esteem. The Knowledge Gain System is more than tutoring, it involves diagnostic testing and evaluation off strengths and weaknesses. Students are taught , assertive learning skills in conjunction with their academic programs. They practice memory and personal management skills. Knowledge Gain helps the struggling student achieve and average students to excel. All students benefit from the Knowledge Gain program and high school credit is available. Call 225-9585 for help or for an evaluation. Mothers march The March of Dimes Annual Mothers March Campaign will take place from January 18 until February 4 throughout Utah. During this time,, thousands of volunteers will be canvasing their neighborhoods, distributing information infor-mation and raising funds for valuable research efforts toward the prevention and treatment of birth defects and infant death. Mothers March began in 1949 as an emergency fundraiser for Polio. The money raised went to fund research to find the cure for polio and ultimately led to the successful Salk and Sabin polio vaccines. ' merits of the play. For a great night out, and a I wonderful way to avoid a trip to 4 rule drug store, "The Nerd." is the $ easily best show in town. Tickets are $5 and $7, and res- ; ervations can be made by call the Villa Playhouse at 489-3088 . The family by Keith C. Olsen By definition, a family is two or more individuals sharing the same goals, desires and values. Using this broad definition, we can have families of liar's, crooks and murderers. We can also have families of doctors, teachers, healers, builders, farmers, farm-ers, fishermen and artists. For the family to exist and endure, it must have these qualities. quali-ties. Number 1, a method of replacement, (growth). Number 2, some type of internal structuresome struc-turesome type of authority, leadership and discipline that will enable the family to maintain its uniqueness, strength and cohe-siveness. cohe-siveness. Since families are the source of the individuals that make up society, if we desire to maintain a strong and just society, we must seek to improve the family and its basic product, that of a strong, reliable, dependable individual. Chains are no stronger than their weakest link. Societies and civilizations civili-zations are no stronger than their weakest individual. Certain teachings, training and experiences are needed to build strong ' leaders and individuals that can build and maintain a fair and just society. It is in the home where that training and teaching has the best chance to effect the lives of the individual. That teaching and training is the foundation foun-dation of those family values that we so desperately need and long for. What type of family is best suited to accomplish our desires? Man cannot improve on God's original design, that of a father whose duty it is to protect, provide pro-vide for and guide his family; and a mother whose duty it is to . bear and nurture the children, then working with her husband to teach and train their children in those important life skills that we call family values. Anything less than this is a poor substitute and can never produce the type of results this world so desperately needs. ome Laminate Flooring. 43 East ' Cm in mint as. Km uh bay rear merchandise how, and ewe "0' Interest for S months. Wc Carry ViNyl, Carpet, HARdwood, Ciramic Tile, WiNdow BliNds, January 22, 1997 - The Springville Herald - Page Eleven Marni Olsen sets lwf boar ding record On January 15 Marni Olsen set a new Springville Middle School Keyboarding Record by typing 96 words-per-minute on about a 15-minuta lesson that was computer timed. Last week she broke Richard Warnick's old mark of 85 wpm with a 88 wpm time. But on January 15, she broke that record on three consecutive con-secutive lessons with scores of 92 wpm, then 94 wpm, and finally, 96 wpm. What is more incredible is that only nine weeks earlier she entered Mr. Lundgreen's key-boarding key-boarding class with a time of only 31 wpm. Marni's sixth Home h auto discounts. Ready h wailing. Mac Brimhall 87 East 500 South Springville 489-3661 For discount on home & cuto Insurance Being In good hands Is the only place to be: O 1996 Abate liuunnce Company Nortfabcook, IQiook Subject to Local milabilitjr ind qualification Other term, oonditiona and esdwora amy appljt in ana Store Hours 10 200 SoutK 489-8819 period class started with a 20 wpm average time and finished on that same speed test with 41 wpm average time. On the 15-minute 15-minute timed lessons the average class record time was more than 50 wpm. Way to go Marni. That is a lost faster than your teacher has ever dreamed of typing. Some of the other great times were 86 wpm by Luke Judd, 85 wpm by Ryan Merrel and Richard Rich-ard Warnick, 78 wpm by Christy Miller, 75 wpm by Megan Mac-donald, Mac-donald, 75 wpm by Clifton Mort-ensen, Mort-ensen, 73 wpm by Casey Miller and 71 wpm by Brandon Moss. no nif'a.K'iHtOSP it see our Wilsonart" Flooring. Made to be lived on. GihkI kHkinj, increJibly JuraMc, easy to clean. 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