By Staff
Special to The Star
Nov. 25, 2001
It's no news that Dan Goggin's "Nunsense" and his variation thereof have been successful all over the world. MLT has previously produced two of the entertaining nun stories: Nunsense I and Nunsense II. Both co-starred Sidney Covington, who will make her third stage entrance in this production as Sister Amnesia.
In "Nuncrackers," the nuns are warming up for their first television special which is being taped in the cable-access studio the Reverend Mother (Jackie Banes) built in the convent basement with money she won in a sweepstakes. The scene is set for a Christmas concert with Jennifer Colburn playing Sister Robert Anne, the streetwise nun from Brooklyn, and Karon Leach portraying Sister Mary Hubert second in charge of the convent. The cast also includes a new character, Father Virgil (Zena Limerick), who in on point in the "Nutcracker" ballet that ends the first act.
The show is the annual Christmas program put on at Mount Saint Helen's. Opening with the rousing "Christmas Time is Nunsense Time."
Other Christmas songs and holiday cheer include Reverend Mother's song, "An Old Time Carnival Christmas," and the "Living Nativity Scene," featuring the students and Sister Robert Anne; the popular carol, "O Come All Ye Faithful" is woven throughout the song. The Saint Andrews Sisters of Hoboken will present "We Three Kings of Orient Are Us!," and Sister Robert Anne sings her big number, "All I Want For Christmas." There is a "sing-along" based on the titles of 25 popular Christmas carols that everyone knows.
Wayne McInnis is music director. A traditional gospel number "Holier Than Thou" in "Nunsense I" and "It's Better to Give" in the new edition will be performed before the final of each act. The show's advisor, Sister Andr Burkhart of St. Patrick Catholic Church, said the show "touches a chord of total escapism and they are done with a set of love, irreverence with reverence."
The roles of the children will be played by: Matt Crane, Bethany Dearman, Maggie Freyaldenhoven, Ryan Jimenez, Daniel May, Lindsey Summerlin and Chris Williams.
Guest tickets are now on sale. Adults are $16. Students (18 and under), senior citizens (65 and older) and military are $14. The MLT Box Office is open Monday through Friday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. For more information, call 482-6371.