By Dan Hagen
What’s black and white and treads all over the country?
That would be the musical “Nunsense,” a 1985 show that, with
its sundry sequels and spin-offs, is really more an institution now. It’s even
been converted to a drag show — “Nunsense A-Men.”
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| Therese Supple Kincade as the Reverend Mother |
Dan Goggin’s musical didn’t start as a show, either, but as
a line of greeting cards.
Its durability springs from the awe and fear Catholic
schoolchildren have for nuns, and its comedy depends — as so much of comedy has
from the beginning of time — on the subversion of authority figures. That
subversion soothes any ill feelings left over from hands that might once have
been smacked by rulers.
But it’s the gentlest of subversions, one that finally
doesn’t undermine the stature of its targets. This isn’t the acid of
Christopher Durang’s “Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You.” As
directed by John Stephens, it’s just a little lemonade, a tart, light evening’s
refreshment.
Goggin’s songs are unmemorable, for the most part, but the
cast at the Little Theatre is not. We have Melissa Jones as Sister Mary Leo,
Jamie Finkenthal as Sister Robert Anne, Kara Guy as Sister Mary Amnesia, Sophie
Grimm as Sister Mary Hubert and Therese Supple Kincade as the Reverend Mother
Sister Mary Regina, leader of the sadly decimated band known as the Little
Sisters of Teutopolis.
The kinetic energy of these theatrical pros magnifies them
to about 120 percent larger than life on stage, and holds the audience’s
attention even when Goggin’s book and music might not.
You probably remember the setup — the nuns are putting on a
show to raise money to bury the four “blue nuns” in the freezer, the victims of
botulism from vichyssoise poorly prepared by Sister Julia, Child of God. (By
the way, the real French Chef, Julia Child, sniffed that vichyssoise was a mere
American invention, not French at all).
Kincade opens the show by apologizing to the audience for
the set, left over from a middle school production of a 1950s rock musical that
she thinks is titled “Vasoline.”
The sentimental songs like “Lilacs Bring Back Memories” and
“Growing Up Catholic” probably wear out their welcome quickest, sentimentality
always seeming somewhat out of place in a farce. But most of the numbers are
brisk and funny toe-tappers like Grimm’s “Tackle That Temptation with a Time
Step” and Kincade’s “Turn Up the Spotlight.”
The hilarious “So You Want to Be a Nun” features Guy playing
Edgar Bergen with what is essentially Charlie McCarthy in a habit, the
smart-mouthed “Sister Mary Annette.” And Grimm effectively becomes Sister
Mahalia to belt out “Holier Than Thou,” the rousing gospel tune that closes the
show.
Guy is particularly delightful as the scatter-brained Sister
Mary Amnesia, squinchy-eyed and big-voiced, as alternately loud and shy as a
child, radiating an irresistible and benevolent innocence.
Kincade is another assured comedienne, and, with her natural
statuesque authority, first played this role on this stage 15 years ago. She’s
got this part so well down that she can simply wing it as Sister Mary Regina
for a couple of hours with no script, just as she did at a recent Little
Theatre fundraiser. Never missed a beat.
Nor does she here in what is probably the show’s best scene,
not a song but a bit in which the mother superior ends up sniffing amyl nitrate
to hilarious effect.
“Nunsense” brought the audience to its feet Sunday
afternoon.
Incidental Intelligence: “Nunsense” runs through Oct. 27 at
the Little Theatre, with scene design by Stephens and David Scobbie, lighting
design by Chris Benefiel, costume design by Grand Ball Costumes, production
stage management by Jeremy Phillips, musical direction by Kevin Long and
choreography by Guy. For tickets, call The Little Theatre on the Square Box
Office at (217)-728-7375 or go online at www .thelittletheatre.org.
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