There's nothing like an old-fashioned musical comedy. It entertains with sing-along tunes, dancing and a lot of silliness, especially in the case of the 20-year-old play "Nunsense," by Dan Goggin.
"Nunsense" won the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Best Musical of 1986, alongside Best Music and Best Book.
"Nunsense" is a wickedly madcap revue that satirizes convent life through the antics of five of the 19 surviving Little Sisters of Hoboken.
The show covers a benefit revue put on by the sisters to raise money to bury the last four of 52 unfortunate nuns who died from botulism.
Kathy Wygle directs with musical direction by Patty Parsons. Jim Watkinson accompanies on keyboards with Bart Bailey on percussion.
"I tell you what—that guy plays!" Robert Rais, who plays the Mother Superior, said of Watkinson.
The bickering, wacky nuns who manage the song-and-dance routines, conduct an audience quiz and indulge in other shenanigans are Sister Mary Hubert (Jana Arnold), Sister Mary Leo (Sara Gorby), Sister Mary Amnesia (Claudia McCain), the Reverend Mother (Rais) and Sister Robert Anne (Janis Walton).
"It's great for all ages," Wygle said. "It's a small cast for us, but it's great to be able to do a musical this way. It's really fun working in that ensemble way.
"Our usual two choreographers were unavailable. Paula Caputo was out of town and Sara Gorby was doing choreography for 'Guys and Dolls.' So, Michele (Minailo) Jefferson, a professional dancer and teacher with Footlight Dance Centre, came in. We were so lucky that she had the time to do it."
Wygle is especially proud of musical quality of the production.
"The singing is remarkable," she said. "Really, Patty's part in the production is bigger than mine. (As the musical director) She's the champion of the show."
McCain agreed. A veteran of numerous Laughing Stock productions, she said the music in this show is a particular pleasure.
"This cast has strong actors with great voices. It's just a riot to step back and enjoy what everybody else is doing. We all blend really well vocally," she said. "I needed a little break (from heavy drama) and getting to do the broad comedy is perfect."
McCain has just returned to the valley after performing "The Belle of Amherst" in Pleasanton, Calif.
As for Walton, "Nunsense" is her second show with Laughing Stock, but her performing career is long founded. A professional singer on the Christian music circuit, she and her singing partner Kaci Rigney released a CD last year.
"I really like the audience participation throughout the show. My character has a sweet side to her but she's always getting in trouble," Walton laughed. "It's a lot of fun to play."
Sara Gorby, who (among other things) runs St. Thomas Episcopal Church's Company B theater program, said, "The story line is so funny, so outrageous and so far-fetched. A lot is told through the songs, as they get tossed from character to character."
Jana Arnold, who's a veteran of television, theater and movies in Los Angeles, is trying on her singer's hat for this show.
"It's been a great challenge for me," she said. "This is song, song, song, couple words, song, song. That's what drew me to the show. I have to think like a singer instead of like an actor. The gift of it is that the five of us work well together, and get to bring the audience in."
Playing the Mother Superior is not an entirely odd position for Rais, who as the only Catholic in the cast laughingly said he's become the go-to man for all things Catholic.
He's also played a woman before, but as he explained, "You don't play a woman, you play your objective. I saw an all-male version in Chicago that was hilarious. It's a fun show. It really is."
"Nunsense" takes to the boards
Laughing Stock Theatre Co. with the support of the nexStage Theatre, presents "Nunsense" by Dan Goggin, directed by Kathy Wygle, at 8 p.m. Thursday, May 26, through Sunday, May 29, and Thursday, June 2, through Sunday, June 5, at the nexStage Theatre. Opening night tickets on Thursday, May 26, are $10 and $15. All other nights are $20 general admission and more for reserved seats. Box office: 726-4TKS.
The cast of ?Nunsense? loitering around in the diner, from top right clockwise, Claudia McCain, Janis Walton, Sara Gorby, Jana Arnold and Robert Rais. Photo by Chris Pilaro
