By CHRISTOPHER TUFFLEY
christopher.tuffley@newssun.com
SEBRING -- Gasoline prices have you grinding your teeth? Did your grandson just get his tongue pierced? Have you found out your house needs a new roof?
Highlands Little Theatre has, if not a cure for your ills, a production that will distract you from them -- the laugh-out-loud comedy "Nunsense," which opens Friday night.
The show is irresistible.
Take the premise alone. The convent of the Little Sisters of Hoboken has experienced a tragedy as the play begins. The cook, Sister Julia, child of God, has accidentally poisoned 52 of the nuns (19 were spared because they were out playing bingo).
The problem for the survivors is how to raise more money to bury the last four bodies when the convent's funds run out. The situation is pressing because the bodies are being kept in the convent's freezer, which upsets everyone.
Their solution? A "little benefit show" starring five of the nuns. The variety show they perform is the play -- which takes place in a middle school gym decorated for an eighth grade production of "Grease."
Each of the five nuns who do the performing has a story. The Reverend Mother, played by Lois Brown, used to work in the circus and loves the spotlight. Sister Mary Hubert, played by Emily Bellamy, is second in command. She has her eye on the Reverend Mother's position.
Sister Mary Leo, played by Asia Grace, dreams of becoming the first nun ballerina. Sister Robert Ann, played by Olivia Hitt, is from Brooklyn. She's street wise and a bit wild. Finally, there is Sister Amnesia, played by Amanda Mercer, who has never been the same after a crucifix fell on her head.
Mike McMillian directed "Nunsense," which HLT has presented before.
The show has been making people laugh for 27 years, McMillian said. It is the third longest running off-Broadway show. There have been 5,000 productions worldwide presented in 21 languages.
"Nunsense," written by Dan Googin, started out as a half-hour cabaret show which was supposed to run for four days, but was so popular the run extended to 38 weeks. The success led Googin to expand the show into a full length play that went on to run almost 10 years off-Broadway.
Googin, who went to Catholic schools and studied for the priesthood for a time, has said he wanted to portray nuns as real people, using some his former teachers as models. It is gentle humor with no barbs attached.
The pace is fast, there is singing and dancing and wonderful lines like, "Some people think St. Francis was a sissy" ("No dear," the nun in question is told, "He's St. Frances of Assisi").
The five actresses play well off each other and have snappy timing. Even better, they sing well, producing a harmony that even soars on occasion.
Of the five, four have appeared in other HLT productions. Hitt, Grace and Mercer all appeared in "The Secret Garden," for example, and Mercer is the current Heartland Idol.
Brown, who has contributed behind the scenes in the theater so long she was awarded the JaneLou Buck Award last season, is taking on her first acting role. She is something to watch when the Reverend Mother accidentally gets high.
Bellamy is the one newcomer to the stage. Active at her church, The Bountiful Blessing Church of God, Bellamy felt obligated to set an example for the young people with whom she works by taking on a new challenge.
Another plus in this production is the live music. Ruth Ann Esseltine plays the piano and Sunny Zengler the keyboard.
McMillian warns that tickets are selling briskly and one Sunday has already been sold out.
Tickets are $20 apiece. They can be bought at the box office or online. There is a convenience fee to order on-line.
The box office is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday. The theater is at 356 W. Center Ave. The phone number is 382-2525.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012 - www.newssun.com/032812-ct-Nunsense