Brie-Ann Murphy (left), Nikki Barger, Candace Russell, Kendra Payne and Tarah Reim star in “Nunsensations!” (Photo courtesy of Huntington Playhouse)

Huntington Playhouse opens season with ‘Nunsensations!’
By Art Thomas
Insights
Published May 21, 2008

One sign that spring has arrived is when Huntington Playhouse in the Bay Village Metroparks starts their season. This year’s opener is one from the ever-popular “Nunsense” franchise. “Nunsensations!” puts the Little Sisters of Hoboken, N. J. in Las Vegas, where they stage a revue to earn money for their charitable work.

When Dan Goggin created the first “Nunsense” 20 years ago, who knew that the series would continue through at least a half-dozen incarnations? All of the original characters are in “Nunsensations!” There’s Candace Russell as the sometimes-serious Mother Superior who manages to shake her booty in one of the show’s “let your hair down numbers.” There’s Nikki Barger as poor Sister Mary Paul who has amnesia and does a song with a puppet in every show. Here it’s “A Little Goes a Long Way,” which sums up my feelings about the “Nunsense” series.

Kendra Payne is Sr. Mary Hubert, who belts out “Double of Nothin,’” and Brie-Ann Murphy who sings the show’s gratuitous ballad, “I Left Him There.” Completing the cast is Tarah Reim as Sr. Robert Anne.

Huntington’s opening night had a large and enthusiastic audience who loved everything about “Nunsensations!” When the habit-clad cast put on feather boas, the audience went wild. Some audience members get involved with a roll-of-the-dice participation to win valuable prizes.

I’m glad when people support local theater for any reason. “Nunsations!” is what a lot of people enjoy. I was mildly amused by the first, and best, “Nunsense.” I did not find “Nunsense” to be “habit forming,” however. I wish that what happened in Vegas would stay in Vegas. I have so far, thanks to the cooperation of local theaters, avoided the “Country Western Nuns” and the “Christmas Nunsense.”

Huntington’s 2008 season is varied with an Agatha Christie classic, “The Mousetrap,” musicals “West Side Story” and a Rodgers and Hammerstein revue among others. You can support the theater in a significant way by purchasing a flex pass. This contains seven coupons for any performance. You can bring six friends to one show or see the entire series yourself…or any combination. At $98, the flex pass is a bargain. They are only sold for a few more weeks, so please help out this theater by getting one or more flex passes, which provides working capital for a strong Huntington Theater season. Call (440) 871-8333 for more information.