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‘Nunsense’ gives
students room to play"Nunsense": Repeats 7:30 p.m. today to Saturday at the Ron Bright Theatre, Castle High School. Tickets $12 general, $10 for seniors, $8 for students under 18. Call 927-1311.
By John Berger IT'S been almost 13 years since Manoa Valley Theatre introduced "Nunsense" to Hawaii, and well over six since it staged the sequel, "Nunsense II: The Second Coming." That's more than enough time to make playwright Dan Goggin's musical comedy about five nuns and the benefit show they put together in the Mount Saint Helen's School Auditorium a fresh experience for many local theater fans. Staged and directed by Ron Bright at the Castle Performing Arts Center, "Nunsense" is a fine showcase for five of his current young proteges as well.
Special to the Star-BulletinThe story is like something out of MAD magazine. The nuns must come up with enough money to cover the cost of burying four members of the order of the Little Sisters of Hoboken who died of food poisoning along with 48 others after eating a dish prepared by the convent cook, Sr. Julia Child of God.
If the four "blue nuns" currently stashed in the convent freezer aren't buried immediately, dire legal consequences will ensue. And so it is that five of the survivors are staging a fund-raiser. What follows as they scramble to keep the "show" going is an eclectic comic avalanche of quips, puns, word games, double entendres, sight gags, physical comedy and throwaway references to a hodgepodge of cultural icons. Bright and his cast make it all a delightfully light experience.
The production is a fine career capper for Castle High senior Laine Yoshioka (Sr. Mary Regina) who first surfaced as a promising and versatile young entertainer as a contestant in the Oceanic Kids' Talent Search more than 10 years ago. Yoshioka gives "Nunsense" a solid foundation with her engaging portrayal of the portly Mother Superior.
Yoshioka wears her bulky costume like a second skin and is particularly impressive in "An Unexpected Discovery." That's the scene in which Sr. Mary Regina unintentionally gets high on a vial of contraband inhalant one of the other nuns discovers in the girls' locker room. Yoshioka plays Mary Regina's gradual giggly incapacitation so well that you'll be tempted to go up on stage to help her get untangled from the set.
Jacqueline Grace is probably the least publicized of Yoshioka's co-stars but she became a favorite on opening night playing bemused nun Mary Amnesia.
Grace and Bright develop the character as a riff on Jean Stapleton's portrayal of "All in the Family's" Edith Bunker and the concept works well. Grace, a Castle High School sophomore and six-year veteran of the CPAC theater program, quickly makes the role her own. She works the crowd beautifully both from the stage and out in the audience in one number, and deftly animates a large hand puppet in another.
Jen Matsuura is Sr. Mary Hubert, the ambitious Mistress of Novices who would like to replace Mary Regina as Mother Superior. Tori Anguay is Sr. Mary Leo, the novice nun who dreams of becoming the first nun/ballerina. Jana Anguay completes the cast as Sr. Mary Robert Anne, the proud and pushy one who will do whatever it takes to get a starring role and at least one solo number.
Grace, Matsuura and Yoshioka mesh beautifully in making the nuns' attempt to sell a recipe book, "Baking With the BVM (Blessed Virgin Mary)," one of the comic highlights. Tori Anguay blends delicacy and grace as the would-be ballerina.
"Nunsense" is ultimately about teamwork and Bright knits his five stars into a smooth ensemble. Choreographer Tammy Torres-Hunter adds pizazz with crisp tap dance sequences, believable ballet numbers for Tori Anguay, and suggestive bump-and-grind stripper-style routines elsewhere.
Sound balance was a problem on opening night. The spoken dialogue was clear throughout the show. The cast's singing on the ensemble numbers is reinforced by six additional vocalists in the orchestra pit and the ensemble numbers also came through clearly over the small combo. Individual numbers were another story and various nuns often needed more microphone volume than the sound system provided. Some of the girls will either have to project more strongly or the sound guy will have to crank 'em up this weekend.
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