Going in Blind: Discovering Nerdy Prudes Must Die
The Village Players Theatre is quickly becoming my favorite venue for seeing live plays and musicals in the Toledo area. I've yet to see a show there that was anything less than what I would consider impressive, both in terms of talent and overall production value. A seasoned Broadway critic I am not, but I like what I like. My first visit to the venue was last year when I saw their rendition of Little Shop of Horrors, and I vividly remember being taken aback with every aspect of the production, from casting to props and stage design. More recently, I attended their production of The Wedding Singer, which further cemented my admiration for the venue and the caliber of talent they have to offer. While attending that show, the host announced an upcoming fundraiser featuring a staged reading of Nerdy Prudes Must Die. Wanting to support the theatre, we purchased our tickets right then and there from our seats. The fundraiser took place this past Friday, and needless to say, I'm extremely thankful that we chose to attend.
As we took our seats in the front row, I noticed the stage was lined with music stands. That seemed perfectly appropriate, considering I was expecting little more than a staged script reading. Right before the show kicked off, the host took the stage, rattled off the obligatory pre-performance announcements, and asked if there was anyone in the audience who was unfamiliar with the story. I, along with many others, raised my hand (I made a conscious decision to attend the show without any prior knowledge, as I thought it’d be fun going into it completely blind). The rest of the crowd broke into laughter at the uninformed audience members, and we were told that we were in for a surprise. That indeed turned out to be very true.
“I did not consent to this rendez-voos!”
Just a few minutes into the show, the cast grabbed all of the music stands, shifted them to the back of the stage, and broke into a musical number with full choreography, costumes, live music, and lighting. It quickly became apparent that what we were watching was far more ambitious than a staged reading. What unfolded was, for all intents and purposes, a full-blown production. Aside from a few actors occasionally referencing tablets containing their lines, there was little to distinguish it from a fully staged performance. I'm not sure if this was an intentional surprise, but it sure as hell caught me off guard and made for a great reveal.
“Bathing isn't safe for me right now.”
Nerdy Prudes Must Die is a horror-comedy musical that mixes slasher film clichés with high school drama, foul-mouthed dark humor, and a few heartfelt moments peppered throughout. Set in the town of Hatchetfield, the story follows an unlikely group of students as a series of unsettling events turns their senior year into a chaotic game of whodunit. Among them are the rebellious, popular girl Stephanie Lauter (played by Nicole Tuttle-Robb), the school's resident Bible-thumping church girl Grace Chasity (Hayley Hoss), the bowtie-wearing, suspender-sporting Peter Spankoffski (Zack Tuttle-Robb), and Peter's two best friends, Richie Lipschitz (Seth Johnson) and Ruth Fleming (Laura Crawford). Together, they hatch a plan to alleviate their frequent and unwanted run-ins with the notorious school bully, Max Jägerman (Brock Burkett), but things quickly take an unexpected and dark turn in the process.
The entire cast truly did a phenomenal job, which made it very difficult to choose standout performances, but I was particularly struck by Brock Burkett's portrayal of Max Jägerman, as I thought he did an incredible job of bringing the character to life, and I was pleasantly surprised at how skillful of a singer he was. I was also impressed by Hayley Hoss's portrayal of Grace Chasity, as she hilariously captured the character's intense devotion and eccentric personality while bringing a tremendous amount of energy to the role. I also thoroughly enjoyed Thomas Long’s performances in various roles including Officer Bailey and Mark Chasity, delivering several laugh-out-loud moments. Everyone had great onstage presence and chemistry, resulting in a high-quality adaptation of the show.
“I'm so heckin' fudged!”
I found myself wanting to learn more about the people behind the musical. After some internet sleuthing (pushes glasses up on nose), I discovered that Nerdy Prudes Must Die is the work of StarKid Productions, which originated at the University of Michigan's School of Music, Theater and Dance in 2009, with many of its early members meeting at the university's student-run theater organization, Basement Arts. In April of that year, the students staged a musical parody of the Harry Potter series entitled A Very Potter Musical. The YouTube video of the play went viral, making StarKid somewhat of an overnight success. Due to their viral fame, StarKid Productions was formed, named after a quote from A Very Potter Musical. Since its inception, StarKid has produced numerous full-length musicals, with another about to debut in Los Angeles on July 30th (Tomb Quest), which will be shared on their YouTube channel sometime in late 2026. Nerdy Prudes Must Die is part of their Hatchetfield series, which began with The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals, followed by Black Friday.
It turns out that I walked into a fundraiser expecting a simple staged reading and walked out having discovered a new (to me) theater company, a new musical series, and another reason to keep watching what The Village Players Theatre brings to the stage. And having now experienced my first show from StarKid, I'll definitely be checking out some of their other creations as well.