Theater review: Nunsense

by Christopher Soden of John Garcia's The Column

The spectacle of a nun who behaves in unseemly ways has been a longtime source of amusement in American theatre. Consider: The Sound of Music, Agnes of God, the wicked satire behind Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You. Audiences just can't seem to get enough of these Brides of Christ when they're willing to reveal their flawed, earthy, and naughtier sides. As if they'd been wrapped up in those black and white habits since birth, any nods to their humanity are met with great satisfaction and relief.

Perhaps no one understands this phenomenon better than Dan Goggin, who, inspired by the massive success of a line of greeting cards, wrote and directed a cabaret show called Nunsense (which finished its run in Dallas on October 11) that opened on December 12th, 1985 at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre. It was later moved to the Douglas Fairbanks Theatre, where it went on to enjoy a ten year run and 3,672 performances. During that time many well known comediennes and comic actresses stepped into various roles, including Kay Ballard, Sally Struthers, Pat Carroll, JoAnne Worley, and Peggy Cass. Over time the revue evolved into a full scale musical production.

The premise of Nunsense, a song and dance show with oodles of wisecracking (vaudeville by way of urban monasticism) is a fundraiser held by the Little Sisters of Hoboken, at the Mount St. Helen's Middle School, where the students are taking a few nights off from their production of Grease. Seems Sister Julia undercooked the vichyssoise, and the sisters need money to bury the four remaining fatalities (preserved in a walk-in freezer). It's an indication of the world we live in, I suppose, that this ghoulish predicament culminates in one the evening's funniest pieces "Soup's On" or The Dying Nun Ballet. Certainly Nunsense works best when it glories in the fine frivolity of the ridiculous.

The cast of The Fig Theatre Company (housed at The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration) gave 100% in the Sunday matinee I saw last week. The gags included in Nunsense are undoubtedly all over the map, from puns that will make you groan to the ventriloquist's doll (also a nun) that lacks appropriate discretion. Here you will find a Mother Superior tweaking on popper, unwittingly blue double entendres, and yet another riff on the acceptance speech Sally Field will never live down. Some of these jokes connect, some fizzle, some are pure giddy pleasure. I suspect some of the material hasn't aged well and punch lines coming from their leper colony can be seen coming down second avenue. Whatever the outcome, though, none of it was for want of trying.

Director Charles Ballinger and Choreographer Janis Roeton have done a superb job coordinating the variety of song and dance (including tap, ballad, country & western) routines that give Nunsense much of its sparkle and punch. The five sisters have great gusto, poise and panache, and milk a bit nearly as well as anyone wielding a mike in the Catskills.

The performers have been encouraged to interact with the audience in a familiar, ministerial sort of way, and it never hurts to deliver these affable pokes to the ribs. They move and respond well together, inviting us to play, stray, and pray.

Judy Keith as Mother Superior, Sister Mary Regina, is well cast as the crusty, long-suffering matriarch of The Little Sisters of Hoboken. Like the marvelous Marjorie Main, she can seem supremely annoyed without being harsh.

As Sister Mary Robert Anne, the younger nun with street cred to spare, Jordan Haynie has a good balance of warmth and sly rebellion. Haynie definitely shows a knack for the introspective and dramatic, in her more somber turn in "Growing Up Catholic."

Sheila D. Rose plays Sister Mary Hubert, Regina's second-in-command, and her frustration and double-takes keep the show bouncing.

Janis Roeton as Sister Mary Amnesia, the poor lost sister who can't remember her history (other than a bump to the noggin from a falling crucifix) is grand as the convent's token space cadet. Like Gracie Allen or your favorite absent-minded aunt, her flakiness only makes it that much funnier, when she scores a comic bulls-eye.

Kimberly Mickle as Sister Mary Leo, the novice who still wishes to pursue her penchant for ballet dancing, is memorable in her delirious homage to Swan Lake.