The Newtowne Players bring on some holiday 'Nunsense'

Lexington Park, MD — A perfect holiday treat is ready for a four-week run at the Three Notch Theatre in Lexington Park. The Newtowne Players (NTP) is performing one of the spinoffs of the hugely successful Nunsense brand called “NunCrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical.” Shows are Thursdays through Sundays November 7-23 and December 4-7.

Don Goggin’s “Nunsense” opened Off-Broadway on December 12, 1985; its 3,672 performances make it the second longest-running Off-Broadway show. By the time it closed, according to Wikipedia, the on-line encyclopedia, “it had become an international phenomenon translated into at least 26 languages with more than 8,000 productions worldwide. It has grossed over $500 million worldwide and more than 25,000 women have played in Nunsense production worldwide…”

The stories of the Little Sisters of Hoboken are indeed a franchise, with an on-line “Convent Store” and a Nunsense Museum at Seven Angles Theater in Waterbury, CT.

There have been six Nunsense sequels, with NunCrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical, being the third. The show is a behind-the-scenes look at a holiday television special taped by the sisters for public-access TV in their convent basement studio.

Some of what unfolds in NunCrackers is better understood by those you have seen Nunsense. For instance we learn as an aside that the ranks of the Little Sisters of Hoboken have been seriously depleted when one of the nuns accidently killed 52 of them with tainted food. Suggestion: read one of the online plots of the original production before going to see this local sequel production.

The Newtowne Players production starts even before curtain call with the nuns and Father Virgil coming out to interact with the audience in an unscripted dialogue. Audience members are asked who is Catholic and the interaction takes off from there. Some audience members are even given gifts. It is a great opportunity for the cast to test their improvisational skills.

The nuns are:
• Reverend Mother, played by NTP veteran Dawn Weber
• Sister Hubert, performed by  NTP veteran Rebecca Masters
• Sister Amnesia, played by Jessany Fogle, who has been with NTP since 2006
• Sister Robert Anne, performed by Michelle Ebert Freire, in her first stage performance in more than a decade
• Sister Leo/Stage Manager, played by Kristin Montour Grubbs, who has a number of theater credits on her resume
• Sister Mary Myopia performed by Beth Sanford, who is normally behind the scenes, stage managing, directing or crewing a show
• Leni Weisel plays Sister Mary Alberta Francis della Sinatra. In her first time in a NTP production she was nominated for best supporting actress in “Caucasian Chalk Circle.”
• Sister Mary Marigold is played by NTP veteran Ellynne Brice Davis, last seen in NTP’s last performance, “Moon Over Buffalo.”
• Dona Eckler plays the aptly named Sister Euthanasia, the convent’s nurse. This is her first NTP performance.

Father Virgil, who often is outwitted by the nuns, is played by Paul Rose, who is appearing after a five-year absence from the stage. He is playing alongside his daughter Madeline (Kelly), one of the children in the cast, along with Logan Carter (John), Reed Marie Grumbles (Maria), Lily McDowell (Louise), and Mikayla Cole (Grace). Tim Joyce plays the Brother/Stage Manager.

NunCrackers is a play on words as the nuns try with all their might to perform the Nutcracker Suite. It is a completely irreverent script filled with a lot of heart appropriate for the Christmas season. The play often relies on sight gags, such as the confusion over the words of certain Christmas songs and the cooking scene with Fr. Virgil, to keep the audience constantly amused.

Of course the holiday music, some traditional, and some parodies, such as “We Three Kings of Orient Are Us,” are the center of this Christmas musical, and the voices are strong and melodic throughout.

Michele Ebert Friere as Sister Robert Anne steals the show from the opening with her Brooklyn accent which this reviewer isn’t sure is learned or just good acting. Her athleticism is evident throughout the production as she romps about the stage and in interacting with the audience.

NunCrackers is directed by Kristin Kauffman, who directed Nunsense with the Newtown Arts Company in Pennsylvania in 2010, so she is familiar with the convent.

Music Director is Dianne Troutman who has been a NTP member since 2099, having performed in a variety of roles.

Others behind-the-scenes who contribute to the play’s success are Assistant Stage Manager Alyssa Fox, Assistant Producer Beth Sanford, Lighting Designer Jenny Carnahan, Set Designer David Groupé, Stage Manager Kristin Montour Grubbs, Properties Managers Dawn Weber and Dianne Trautman, Costumer Dawn Weber and Graphic Designer Stacey Mulrooney.

Performance are Nov. 7-23 and Dec. 4-7, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3:30 p.m. For tickets visit www.newtowneplayers.org or call 301-737-5447.