‘Nunsense’ continues through Sunday

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DAILY CHRONICLE

The Little Sisters of Hoboken are staging a variety show at the Mount Saint Helens School Auditorium. That is the premise behind “Nunsense,” Stage Coach Players’ final production of its 2009 summer season. 

“Nunsense,” an award-winning musical comedy conceived and written by Dan Goggin, will be performed through Sunday by Stage Coach Players of DeKalb at 126 S. Fifth St. Orv Kersten of Cherry Valley is the director. This is his second play with Stage Coach Players.

The original production of “Nunsense”, which Goggin directed himself, opened in Greenwich Village at the off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre in 1985. It eventually moved to the Douglas Fairbanks Theater for the majority of its 10-year run, which lasted for 3,672 performances.  When it closed, “Nunsense” was the second-longest running off-Broadway show in history (after “The Fantastiks”). In time, it had become an international phenomenon translated into more than two dozen languages with more than 6,000 productions worldwide.

Edie Adams, Kaye Ballard, Honor Blackman, Pat Carroll, Peggy Cass, Phyllis Diller, Georgia Engel, Louise Gold, Darlene Love, Rue McLanahan, Lee Meriwether, Sally Struthers and JoAnne Worley are among the thousands of actresses who’ve taken on the heavenly characters.

The plot of “Nunsense” revolves around a variety show by five of the surviving Little Sisters of Hoboken; most of the nuns in the order and one-time mission were accidentally killed by tainted vichyssoise. Having raised some money via a greeting-card company started by Mother Superior Mary Regina (Diana Peffer Johnson of DeKalb) to bury most of the deceased nuns, the sisters find they must raise money to bury the remaining four nuns.

Joining Mary Regina on stage is Sister Mary Hubert (Jennifer Snow of Sycamore); Sister Robert Anne (Sally Thomson of Hinckley); Sister Mary Leo (Sarah Navratil of DeKalb); and Sister Mary Amnesia (Roberta Maxfield of DeKalb). The entertainment they present includes solo star turns, madcap dance routines and an audience quiz.

Growing up, Goggin spent a great deal of time around nuns, mostly with experiences leaving wonderful memories. Goggin wrote “Nunsense” because he wanted to share what he knew to be “the humor of the nun.” Though it may be hard to believe, each of the Little Sisters of Hoboken is based on a real-life nun.

Some of the musical numbers are fun while others are beautiful. They include “Nunsense Is Habit-Forming,” “Growing Up Catholic,” “Turn Up the Spotlight,” “Tackle Tempation With a Time Step,” and “I Could’ve Gone To Nashville.” “Nunsense” is a wacky and outrageous musical with a hysterical anything-goes sense of fun, and guaranteed to lift your spirits. 

For tickets or show information, call the Stage Coach box office at 815-758-1940 or visit www.stagecoachers.com.