Review: NUNSENSE at Porchlight Music Theatre

The Little Sisters of Hoboken are on a mission- from God! Turning to the stage to raise funds for the funerals of their dearly departed members, these sisters sing, tap, and puppet their way through a variety show where we learn about their personal stories and the apparently unpredictable life of a nun. Nunsense is exactly what it sounds like- lighthearted, fun, and just a little bit wacky. As a first-timer at Porchlight Music Theatre, I was delighted with their pre-show talk which gave a very entertaining overview of the show's history, inspiration, and creator. This context gave me a whole new appreciation of this "little show that could," and helped me get into the spirit of things (the holy spirit, that is)!

The phenomenal cast of Nunsense brought to life a group of five quirky nuns with a penchant for performing. Despite the morbid reason for their theatrics, they maintained a spunky and upbeat attitude throughout the show. Sister Mary Regina, played by Cynthia F. Carter, ruled the roost as the Reverend Mother. Carter's confidence and commanding presence made her an excellent fit for this role- her natural leadership really shone through. Her numbers in both Turn Up the Spotlight and especially Holier Than Thou showed off her strong vocals. I would be remiss to not mention Carter's antics after the discovery of a certain substance that had the audience in stitches. Though the scene felt a little longer than it needed to be, Carter put on a performance of the highest degree.

Reverend Mother's second in command, Sister Mary Hubert, was portrayed by Kyra Leigh. Leigh excelled in this role as the link between the leader of the pack and the younger novices, capturing an authoritative yet motherly attitude quite well. She impressed the crowd with her low notes in the final number and was such a joy to watch. Dancing through practically every scene was Hubert's novice and mentee, Sister Mary Leo (Rebecca Keeshin). Keeshin was the absolute picture of youthful innocence and naivete. Her big smile and winsome nature completely won over the audience, as did her heavenly ballet performance in Benedicite/Morning at the Convent. Keeshin's performance as this sweet (though ambitious!) character made you feel as though this could be the actress's personality in real life.

The bruiser of a nun, Sister Mary Robert, was played by the hilarious Missy Aguilar. One of the most fun characters to watch, Aguilar was beloved by the crowd. The irony of Mary Robert's desire to have her own number in the show (despite having her own numbers singing about wanting to have her own number) was a fun element that developed well throughout the performance. Though Robert's wish finally comes true with I Just Wanna Be a Star, I personally loved Aguilar's tongue-twisted and almost haunting rendition of Playing Second Fiddle. Finally, each new incarnation of Aguilar's high jinks with her habit had me rolling with laughter- I could not get enough.

The standout performance of the evening came as a surprise from the memory-less Sister Amnesia. Landree Fleming absolutely nailed this character's progression from a two-dimensional simpleton to a complex individual with a rich background, desires, and of course a wicked sense of humor. During the "quiz the audience" portion in the first act (in which I happily won a glow in the dark Rosary), her character sprang to life. Fleming notably improvised some of her dialogue and did a fantastic job in doing so. Her puppetry skills had me cackling in So You Want to Be a Nun as she effortlessly sang both her part and that of Sister Mary Annette (pun intended). And finally- Fleming's southern charm was the cherry on top to a sundae of a performance in I Could've Gone to Nashville, where she reminisced over what might have been.

The set of Nunsense is actually borrowed from another concurrently running Porchlight show, Pump Boys and Dinettes. This is played off as the set of the school play where the nuns teach, and it actually worked quite well. And predictably, the costumes for this play were what you would expect: uniform black and white habits, wimple and all. Last but certainly not least, live music is always a treat at any production, and Porchlight's production of Nunsense was no exception. Music director Kailey Rockwell did a fabulous job with the musical ensemble including drums and piano- I was delighted to find the pianist also clad in the habit!

Nunsense at Porchlight Music Theatre is the perfect blithe comedy to get you back in the habit of live theater. More details can be found on the website here.

Photos by Justin Kocher.

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