BWW Interviews: Texas Repertory Theatre's Cast and Director of NUNSENSE Talk NUNSENSE

Summer is one of those seasons where family-oriented musical theatre reigns supreme. This summer, Texas Repertory Theatre is presenting Dan Goggin's Off-Broadway smash NUNSENSE. Recently, I was invited to a rehearsal to interview the immensely gifted cast. In addition to a fantastic sneak peek of the hard work and infectious energy being pumped into the show, I chatted with NUNSENSE's cast and director about the show and how they're preparing for the sidesplitting screwball comedy.

BWW: Originally Texas Repertory Theatre Company was going to produce GODSPELL this summer. What prompted the change?

Dan O'Brien: It was a rights issue. The national tour came out, and basically they pulled our rights about three weeks prior. So, we scrambled to come up with a solution, and this is it.

Lendsey Kersey: But it's pretty common though, right?

Dan O'Brien: Yeah, it's pretty common.

BWW: NUNSENSE is a well-known, family-friendly favorite. What unique and original touches is Texas Repertory Theater Company putting on the beloved show?

Patti Rabaza: Dan O'Brien's special funny touches. He's hilarious.

Dan O'Brien: I think the cast will agree, there's a lot of freedom with this show. I come from an improv/sketch comedy background, so I'm definitely not trying to do a carbon copy of anything that's been done before. I think this whole cast has pretty much gotten the message that anything is on the table, and, if it's funny, it stays in.

Lori Callaway: Agreed.

Connor Lyon: And we beatbox.

Dan O'Brien: We incorporate some new technology as well, with references to Facebook, Twitter, cell phones, and that kind of stuff. So, there's a couple of moments that are updated.

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah. Nuns don't need VCRs anymore, just like we don't need VCRs anymore. [Patti Rabaza laughs.]

Robin Van Zant: Yeah, well, rehearsals have been really open and we're constantly cracking ourselves up because we're constantly trying wacky things. Sometimes they're so wrong and so bad, but sometimes we find gold. So, that's been the really fun part of it.

Connor Lyon: Yeah, each of us was able to bring just a little bit of our own creativity to it and make the masterpiece that we've made.

BWW: The humor in NUNSENSE is pretty universal and has broad appeal. How are you preparing to make these familiar jokes land well night after night?

Dan O'Brien: I think I can answer that, but you guys chime in too. So much of the humor is character driven, and it doesn't matter how old it is. It's kind of like why Modern Family works. All the jokes are smart and funny, but they're all character driven. So, if there's a stakes involved for the characters, it gets colored by those stakes in the show, so that's what makes it more interesting.

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah, I don't think we have to try to make the jokes land because they're funny as long as we stay true to what's going on. Even though this is a crazy, wacky comedy, if we stay true to what's happening in the scene, it's still funny.

BWW: And you've got Patti Rabaza in it. She's pretty funny!

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah, COUNTRY GRAVY!

Robin Van Zant: I feel like we have a clear, defined path of who we are and what we want. Yeah, it's like what they were saying, he (Dan Goggin) writes it in there for us. So, if you're just true to what he's giving you, then it's easy.

Patti Rabaza: And these girls are amazing. They're so talented. Their dancing is unbelievable. So, we're really having fun.

BWW: The characters in NUNSENSE are well-intended clichés. How are you individually preparing for your roles?

Lori Callaway: I think about real people, for myself. I actually kind of channel [Laughs] a few people that I know-relatives and friends-into my character. I just incorporate them in, and think about the way they would act, laugh, and move.

Connor Lyon: I have a similar approach to my character as well. I've had a lot of dance background and so has my character. Then I know a lot of people who are just the stereotype of dancer. They fit into every cliché, like you said. Honestly, I just think about what they would do and how it would relate to spirituality. Just taking my own experiences and coloring with that.

Patti Rabaza: Yeah, for me too. I just think, "If I were coming up with this line myself, if it was coming from me, how would I really do it? How would I really say it?"

Lendsey Kersey: For sister Mary Amnesia, I think she probably the most unrealistic of the characters. [Everyone Laughs In Agreement] So, it may have just been kismet that I got so interested in PIPPIN in this recent version. I just spiraled into Andrea Martin, physical comedy, comedia, and stock characters. Then clowns really have just in the last couple of days inspired me with her-just with the way that she gestures with her face and stuff. It's been such an organic process finding things that will work with her.

Dan O'Brien: Without it being...

Patti Rabaza: Cartoony

Dan O'Brien: ...wacky. Wacky's the wrong word. Without it being insincere.

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah.

Dan O'Brien: It's gotta be grounded to some level, but zany enough that the audience will guffaw.

Lendsey Kersey: Right. So, you know the old lady nun in Sister Act? I have her in my head a lot [Others Laugh] because she is so sweet in a special kind of way. That and then all the rest. It's kind of like a crazy combo.

Patti Rabaza: I love that. I didn't know that.

Dan O'Brien: Yeah. It makes sense now that she says it.

BWW: What about as a group/ensemble?

Patti Rabaza: We're rehearsing a lot!

Connor Lyon: Yeah, we're working out butts off.

Lori Callaway: And we all help each other out, and that's something that's really awesome. Even in our extra time, when maybe the choreographer is not here, after we're learned some things and might need to brush up. Everybody's been really willing to help me out and be like "Oh, it's like this" if I ask for their help. So, everybody's just awesome.

Connor Lyon: Something that I think is really interesting about this show is that it is a completely female cast. I've never been in a show like that, so the bond between sisters-we're all different ages and at different places in lives, but we're still all girls. We get along. I just think that the relationships we've created are organic. They're what they'd be if I were a nun and living with these four other people.

Robin Van Zant: And I think that a lot of ensemble stuff is about trusting the people you're on stage with. Everyone here has worked really hard. Everyone's come in with their lines and their music ready. No one is slacking off. The hard work that everyone is bringing to the table allows us to trust each other and know that we're going to be there. And that's really helped with the ensemble building that we have going on.

Dan O'Brien: I think it's also really good to create an atmosphere where there is no fear. That allows for these to girls to really connect and really allows them to fall on their face in front of each other, and it's ok. Right?

Lori Callaway: Hallelujah.

Robin Van Zant: And we have.

Dan O'Brien: And you totally have. It just creates an environment of not just, like she said, trust, but of...

Patti Rabaza: Safety.

Dan O'Brien: ...safety...

Connor Lyon: Freedom! To play.

Dan O'Brien: ...freedom, and pure creativity, rather than "this is exactly how it's going to be," and then tension, tension, tension, fear, fear, fear. Horrible. Not a great place to work from, especially for comedy.

Lendsey Kersey: And we've had an amazing person facilitate that for us [Dan O'Brien laughs]-Dan O'Brien, director.

BWW: Do you find that you share any similarities with your assigned roles?

Lendsey Kersey: Yep!

Connor Lyon: Yes! [Laughs]

Patti Rabaza: Hmmm...

Robin Van Zant: Yes.

Dan O'Brien: Yes?

Patti Rabaza: Yes.

Lori Callaway: Absolutely

Dan O'Brien: I mean, speaking from the guy who's watching it, yes! [Everyone Laughs]

Lendsey Kersey: Thinking of the guy who cast us, [In Unison With Dan O'Brien] YES! [Patti Rabaza Laughs]

Robin Van Zant: It's funny. My character, she's kind of a tomboy. I mean, in middle school and high school, I was an athlete. That's what I did. I was not a performer. I wasn't girly. So, my character is very much like that, but she's also kind of just zany and crazy, a little bit. In a good way though, not a bad way. Not judging her. She's just kind of out there, which I'm a little bit that way too.

Connor Lyon: You are a little bit that way.

Robin Van Zant: Yeah! So I do feel like-it's kind of scary at moments-I'm so close to Robert Anne. It's bad.

Patti Rabaza: And for me, Mother Superior is so bossy, and when I was little all my friend's mothers would come to my mother and say, "My daughter tells me that your daughter is so bossy." [Everyone Laughs]

Connor Lyon: You had it in you. Since the beginning, you were destined to play Mother Superior.

Patti Rabaza: I knew what to do, so I told people what to do.

Dan O'Brien: But Patti's also has had many opportunities where's she had to command the stage either herself or with one other person. That energy of being able to hold an entire group together or a stage is really important to this show, and that's the energy she's bringing to it.

Lendsey Kersey: And Sister Mary Leo was a dancer, and [To Connor Lyon] that's what you are.

Connor Lyon: Yeah! When I was really young I was dancing more than I do now, and I always thought about "what if I really went the ballet route?" Then, I went to New York for my first time, saw my first Broadway show, and I decided to go the Broadway route. But, this is kind of like exploring what it might have been like if I had gone straight dance and then turned a hard left to a nunnery. [Connor Lyon and Dan O'Brien Laugh]

Robin Van Zant: [To Connor Lyon] And your character is so sweet, naïve, and innocent. And it's so you! [Laughs]

Connor Lyon: Yeah. And a perfectionist because ballerinas are just born to follow rules. I definitely connect with her on a couple of different levels.

Lori Callaway: I think I definitely relate to my character. I'm often in leadership roles, yet I have a hard time keeping it together with my laughing and stuff like that. I like jokes. Sometimes, when I'm supposed to be serious, I'm not. I have those moments in the show where I get to that, so it's really fun. And, then I get to add a little Gospel flavor to it too.

Patti Rabaza: Oh, she does!

Lori Callaway: So, that's super fun for me 'cause I don't get to do that all the time. I sing at my church, but we don't sing like that. We sing rock songs, so it's nice to be able to since a little Gospel.

Dan O'Brien: Getting back a little to your first question about reinventing the show, she's (Lori Callaway) kind of, I guess with my blessing, reinvented "Holier Than Thou" at the end, which becomes not only vocally really impressive but hysterical at the same time, which is a really bizarre combination. But, it's good. You'll see.

BWW: You add some good riffs.

Lori Callaway: [Singing] Yay!

Lendsey Kersey: Amnesia's crazy, and that's me. [Everyone Laughs] We're good.

Connor Lyon: We're all a little Amnesia at some point.

Dan O'Brien: Yeah, there's many Amnesias in the show.

Patti Rabaza: Yes!

Connor Lyon: And in the wings too.

Dan O'Brien: You have no idea. How many times have I said, "How many Amnesias are in this show?" They just do dippy things that are so dippy! You're like, "What is going on right now?" [Connor Lyon and Lendsey Kersey Laugh]

Patti Rabaza: Yeah.

Dan O'Brien: Amnesia is catching.

Robin Van Zant: [To Lendsey Kersey] And you just naturally have that little country twang when you talk.

Dan O'Brien: Oh yeah. That's true.

Robin Van Zant: It fits.

Lendsey Kersey: Amnesia's so naïve. I don't want to be naïve, but I am. I know, I just have this weird glass-half-full view of the world that she has. Sometimes it gets me into trouble. I like getting into trouble.

BWW: What are your favorite aspects of preparing NUNSENSE for Houston audiences?

Lori Callaway: Learning to tap dance! [Several Laugh] That is fun! It's such a challenge, but it's so much fun. That's all I can say.

Dan O'Brien: Yeah, Lori started working a month-and-a-half, two-months prior. Just about two months prior? Tapping like crazy because she had never tapped before in her life. And now she's getting through it like that. [Snaps]

Lori Callaway: [Timidly] Two weeks before rehearsals. [Laughs]

Dan O'Brien: Was it two weeks?

Lori Callaway: Yeah.

Dan O'Brien: I thought it was more than that.

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah, because we only found out...

Dan O'Brien: Oh, yeah! Hello, that makes sense.

Connor Lyon: When Dan originally approached me and asked if I had ever done Pointe work. I was like, "Oh yeah, I did some when I was younger." But it was like when I was in 7th grade. But, I didn't want to say that because I wanted to give it a try. [Dan O'Brien laughs] So! [Laughs]

Dan O'Brien: Hey, that's my motto! Always say yes and figure out a way to do it!

Connor Lyon: It's not a lie! In the least way, I was very true!

Patti Rabaza: Yeah!

Connor Lyon: So, I went, "Well, I gotta go get some Pointe shoes." So, reworking all of that is like going back to school. It's so fun. It's kicking my butt, but it's fun.

Dan O'Brien: You're doing fine.

Connor Lyon: Thanks!

Lori Callaway: I would have never known.

Connor Lyon: And it's a whole other skill, now, that I can add to a resume or whatever. It's great to have. It's a great experience.

Patti Rabaza: My favorite aspect is that this is my favorite weight loss program I have ever done. [Connor Lyon and Lendsey Kersey Laugh]

Robin Van Zant: Seriously.

Patti Rabaza: And it works.

Dan O'Brien: Yeah. You're working.

Lendsey Kersey: I think mine is the dancing. The dancing is fun. And working with this group to figure out great ways to land jokes is a lot of fun-learning what works and doesn't work for comedy, definitely.

Robin Van Zant: My character does a couple of impersonations, and those are maybe my favorite things that I got to prepare and do. And I didn't know how they were going to come across. It was just fun!

BWW: What is it like behind the scenes of The Order of the Little Sisters of Hoboken?

Patti Rabaza: It's just really cool because we're all starting to really play off each other and trust each other on stage. It's just really fun. It's fun to be able to be so creative and know that whatever happens, somebody else is going to have our back.

Connor Lyon: I was very grateful when I first got here for the level of professionalism and acceptance. Everybody was just so darn nice and happy to meet me. There's no caddyness.

Patti Rabaza: [About Connor Lyon] And we went to the same college!

Connor Lyon: That's true! [Laughs]

Patti Rabaza: Almost at the same time! [Lendsey Kersey and I Laugh]

Robin Van Zant: I would just say that we have a lot of fun and there's a lot of support and patience. Lauren (Dolk), our choreographer, has drilled and drilled stuff for us and has never once given us dirty looks when we mess it up. She's really patient with us. Very encouraging. And Dan (O'Brien) is really open to just giving us freedom. It's a very positive environment.

Patti Rabaza: And he's, at the same time, very honest.

Robin Van Zant: Mm-hmm.

Patti Rabaza: "Well, that was a train wreck." [Lendsey Kersey, Dan O'Brien, and Robin Van Zant Laugh]

Robin Van Zant: But those words are so great to just hear. I acknowledged that it was a train wreck. We're going to fix it.

Dan O'Brien: It's not hard to deal with this cast. They already know it. I'm just saying it.

Lendsey Kersey: Right.

Dan O'Brien: They're so on it, and they know when they've screwed up royally. [Connor Lyon Laughs]

Robin Van Zant: Yeah. [Pauses. Then With Emphasis.] Yeah.

Dan O'Brien: I'm just reminding them so that they file it away in their little computer and go, "Alright, next run, I've got to remember that moment."

Robin Van Zant: Yes!

Dan O'Brien: If you say it to yourself, it's one thing. But, if the director says it...

Lendsey Kersey: You're going to fix it!

Dan O'Brien: ...then you're like "Oh, I was caught!"

BWW: What is your favorite part of NUNSENSE?

Patti Rabaza: My favorite part is a part that I can't give away because it's really fun and funny.

Dan O'Brien: Right. [Pauses] Your scene alone.

Patti Rabaza: Yes!

Lori Callaway: I think mine is Amnesia with her special friend. [Dan O'Brien and Lendsey Kersey Laugh]

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah, I like that part too, but I like the second song Amnesia sings. It's more of who I actually am as an actor. I think that's really cool. It is also this really weird, weird, weird whirlwind of a role that I played here last summer. And, it's funny to... I don't know. It's just all wacky transition, remembering.

Patti Rabaza: And there's just some really gorgeous songs in it. I don't get to sing any of the gorgeous songs, but they do this trio that's amazing.

Lori Callaway: Oh yeah.

Patti Rabaza: There's actually two trios that are amazing. They're just gorgeous and lyrical, melodic moments.

Lendsey Kersey: Yeah, "Drive In" in my favorite. Erase the first part. "Drive In" is my favorite, vocally. I have to do nothing on stage while people push me around. [Everyone Laughs]

Robin Van Zant: As I get to know the show better, I'm starting to see peeks of little life lessons that have been planted into the script. So, Robert Anne has one of the more emotionally deep songs in the show, and it's about dealing with change. So, my favorite part of the show is seeing these glimmers that I didn't see before. Like, "Oh, yes, this is really funny, but there's also a point too."

Lauren Dolk: What's been fun for me, choreographing it, I haven't really gotten the experience here to choreograph different styles, and working with a group like this, I can throw tap at them, Pointe at one individual, and they can roll with it. That's a lot fun, really, to push my creative boundaries. I can bring back my background and work with people who have a similar background and can run with it.

Dan O'Brien: I wouldn't say this is my favorite part, but it's definitely made an impression. I wake up every single morning with [Sings] "We've got to clean out the freezer."

The Cast In Unison: Yes!!! [Laughs]

Dan O'Brien: Every single morning, I wake up and that's in my head. I have to tell myself, "Stop! Stop! Stop!" That's the first thing that pops into my head every single day. It's not my favorite song in the show, but...

Lori Callaway: I was going to bring that up.

Patti Rabaza: It's there. It's a worm.

Dan O'Brien: ...it's definitely imprinted, big time.

Lori Callaway: I think one thing about this show is that nuns are people.

Connor Lyon: Yeah!

Lori Callaway: A lot of times, people put them in a special category. Like nuns don't do anything.

Connor Lyon: They're holy.

Lori Callaway: They don't laugh. They're holier than thou. [Dan O'Brien Laughs] They're people, and they have fun too, you know! That's been a fun part of the show, just in general, being a nun and having fun being a nun.

Don O'Brien: And on that note, I was just thinking, in my director notes for the Playbill, I mentioned that I grew up a Catholic and my mom had a lot of nuns that were friends. They really were not stodgy, boring, or solemn at all. They were like really dynamic women that were funny, witty, quick, and smart. So, I'm kind of taking that energy and making these women into what I kind of grew up with, which is the opposite of what everybody typically thinks of when they see a nun. Maybe, I just had a very bizarre experience, but it's very atypical.

Connor Lyon: No! I'm also Catholic, but every nun I've met-they're interesting. They're not just...

Dan O'Brien: And maybe they're making up for all those nuns in the 1940s that were just so horrible. [Laughs] They're like, "Oh, they gave us a bad rap, we're going to change this." Who knows? But that was my experience with them.

Lendsey Kersey: On that note, there are more nunneries and convents in Houston than one would think. [With Emphasis] There are many.

BWW: Yeah, I know of one. (Further research points out that I didn't know of any. What I thought was a convent of 6-10 South was actually Saint Mary's Condominiums.)

Dan O'Brien: I don't know of any. [To Lendsey Kersey] You did it for research.

Lendsey Kersey: I enjoyed looking at all of the pictures. Most of the websites have a staff page, with the clergy and the hierarchy of convent and monk life. It was just looking at these women, and seeing. Then, there's an organization, Sister's of Charity of the Incarnate Word. There's a Franciscan group of nuns in Brenham. It's just been really interesting looking at that culture in Houston because we don't realize that it's there.

BWW: Yeah.

Lendsey Kersey: There's a Dominican Sister's group in town. There's Nuns Without Habits in Houston. There's a bunch. [Pauses] Oh, there's a Vietnamese nunnery.

Dan O'Brien: Naturally. [Connor Lyon and Robin Van Zant Laugh]

Connor Lyon: Naturally, yeah.

Dan O'Brien: Duh. Why're you even bringing that up? [Connor Lyon and Lendsey Kersey Laughs]

BWW: Yeah, I think the diversity in Houston would shock anyone, period.

Dan O'Brien and Cast In Unison: Yeah.

BWW: We're not privy to it because we're so spread out. We don't see it as much.

Connor Lyon: Yeah. That is true.

BWW: In your opinion, why should Houston audiences be excited to see this production of NUSENSE?

Patti Rabaza: Because they're going to have a blast!

Connor Lyon: Yeah! I second that!

Dan O'Brien: Hands down, pure and simple, if you want to have a guaranteed good time, come.

Robin Van Zant: I think that they're going to laugh a lot. They're going to be blown away by the talent in the show. And, yeah, they're going to have a good time.

Lendsey Kersey: It's so witty too. I mean, it's obviously not Shakespeare, but you don't have to sacrifice intelligence to be truly entertained and to leave with a smile.

Connor Lyon: Regardless of what style of Broadway music is your favorite-or music in general-it will probably be in the show at one point or another. There's Swing, 60s music, and...

Dan O'Brien: Traditional Broadway.

Connor Lyon: ...traditional Broadway. There's even a little bit of Country, Gospel, Chant. There's a little bit of everything.

Robin Van Zant: And, I also think that it's unique that we have a young cast doing this show. I think, normally, it is done with older people. So, I think there's a fresh energy that is going to be in this production that isn't normally seen.

Dan O'Brien: [Deadpanning] And it's all done in the nude. [Cast Laughs] So, that's new. [Dan O'Brien Laughs]

Robin Van Zant: We just paint our habits on us.

Dan O'Brien: It's all body paint. [Lendsey Kersey Laughs]

As you can tell, the cast and director are an absolute hoot and have remarkable chemistry with one another. They'll be performing the fun and ebullient NUNSENSE at Texas Repertory Theatre at 14243 Stuebner Airline Road, Houston from June 27 to July 28, 2013. For more information or tickets, please visit http://www.texreptheatre.org or call (281) 583 - 7573.

Photos and Images Courtesy of Texas Repertory Theatre.

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