Why did Moses wander in the desert for 40 years? You know men, they never ask for directions. — convent humor
“Nunsense,” Iola Community Theatre’s dessert theater production, opens Saturday night at the Warehouse Theatre, 203 S. Jefferson, with all the hilarity, mild naughtiness and songs that have made it a musical comedy standard.
The production is a milestone for ICT.
Its first run on the Warehouse Theatre stage, in September 1991, was the first-ever production at the venue. Nostalgia is enhanced by Kim Strickler being in the cast both then and now.
She is joined this time by Angie Terhune as Reverend Mother, Charlene Levans as Sister Mary Hubert, Gina Storrer as Sister Mary Amnesia and Liz Ulrich as Sister Mary Leo. Strickler portrays Sister Robert Anne.
Richard Spencer directs the play.
The story opens with the Little Sisters of Hoboken planning a variety show to pay for burial of four sisters stowed in the convent’s freezer.
If that seems a little strange, don’t fret. Unusual is the norm for these sisters who prove time and again that God has a sense of humor.
The convent got into its predicament when visiting Sister Julia brewed up a caldron of potato soup and 52 nuns died seconds after taking their first bites.
The five darlings who sing, dance and joke their way through the play didn’t imbibe — it was bingo night at another convent.
Reverend Mother checked convent finances and figured there was sufficient money to bury the departed, and also buy a Blu-ray disc player. She miscalculated. There was money enough to bury 48, which left four to store, somewhere they wouldn’t be affected by stifling New Jersey summer heat.
The freezer seemed right.
Being good and conscientious nuns, the sisters immediately began planning a variety show to raise money for the last four interments.
All went well until a notice came from the city declaring the convent freezer overcrowded and that the sisters had a day to clean it out.
Amidst prolonged pandemonium, a solution fell from the heavens — where else? — and the sisters celebrate at conclusion of the two-hour production with “Holier than Thou,” a version so rowdy and upbeat it would surprise no one if Jake Blues (aka John Belushi) came somersaulting down the aisle.
You know why nuns don’t do drugs? They already have a habit. — more convent humor
The individual strengths of the actors shine in the performance.
Strickler and Storrer are ICT veterans. They have terrific stage presence and an ease of delivery as good as any professional.
Storrer’s animation adds much to her role and she brings the house down when she sings to herself with aid of a hand puppet. She is named Sister Mary Amnesia for an obvious reason, reconciled at play’s end.
Strickler has the energy of two people. She draws belly laughs with her antics and unbridled wide-ranging voice.
Terhune, as Reverend Mother, is — dare I say — cute as the dickens in her efforts to administer the convent, a chore complicated by the feisty four sisters. A bottle of “RUSH,” some hallucinatory drug, is found near the convent and after the Reverend Mum takes a couple sniffs, she puts on a slapstick show for the ages.
Levans isn’t fond of her name — Hubert doesn’t seem quite right even for a nun, celibate or not — and apprises the other sisters of her disdain with interjections at just the right junctions. She also has an appealing voice and does a good soft-shoe.
Ulrich sulks ever so slightly because Reverend Mother won’t permit her to don a tutu for a dance number. She should get her wish; she has terrific sense of rhythm. She also rivals Storrer and Strickler’s animation. And her dying — think flying — nun routine brings immediate visions of veteran actress Sally Fields.
The show runs about two hours, including a 15-minute intermission, but seems much shorter. It’s a show that makes you feel as good as the performers act.
You know how to make holy water? Boil the hell out of it. — even more convent humor
The Warehouse Theatre will seat about 70 people for each of the play’s five productions. A sumptuous dessert will precede each show.
Doors open Saturday and March 5 and 6 at 6:30 p.m., dessert will be served at 7 and the curtain goes up at 7:30. At matinees Sunday and March 7 doors open at 1 o’clock, dessert will be on tables at 1:30 and the show begins at 2.
Tickets, a steal at $15 for adults and $10 for students, are available at Sophisticated Rose, 19 S. Jefferson.
