Nunsense

Classic cabaret shows are a dying breed, especially within Sin City. The entertainment mecca has been besieged by Broadway spin-offs and multi-million dollar movie-stunt productions since the close of the 1980's, filled out by a bevy of both aspiring and retiring magi-comedians. How refreshing then, for an all-singing, all-dancing show like “Nunsense” to set up base within the aptly named Shimmer Cabaret venue at L.V Hilton. Sure it's got more than a whiff of “Sister Act” about the plot, but you'd be surprised to learn “Nunsense” was written well before Emile Ardino's 1992 spoof, starring the satirically hilarious Whoopi Goldberg!

Dan Goggin is the man accredited with birthing the nonsensical literary work, based upon his own childhood experiences. The Catholic-schooled seminarian recounts in fictional clarity, life among the Marywood Dominican Sisters – whom coincidentally became the muses for the book's missionary order “The Little Sisters of Herboken”. Diane Ellis (former Gershwin singer at the Excalibur, and part time voice-over coach) embraces the role of Mother Superior; the discoverer of Sister Julia's accidental mass homicide (she cooked up a dodgy batch of vichyssoise, resulting in the elimination of over 50 convent residents). Latterly, Mother Superior is the idealist who attempts to conjure cash, to give the residents dignified burials – but she also hankers for the attention a center stage role will bring.

Mother Superior and her seconder Sister Mary Hubert devise a variety show, that will raise enough money for the remaining convent funerals – and this is where the plot takes it's helter-skelter twist into laugh-a-minute territory. Each of the five surviving nuns (there were once nineteen) bears an hilarious flaw to her character, which when combined, threatens to topple the variety show concept, before it has even taken off. Director Nancy Gregory's choice of cast harks to an increasing motivation in Vegas – to bring back the old stars, and “take Las Vegas entertainment back to it's roots”. This is none more evident than with the casting of Diane Ellis, along with the vocal delight Michelle Johnson; a former backing singer for both Gladys Knight and Sheena Easton. Dancer-cum-choreography enthusiast Kathryn Arianoff brings more than a little sexy to her nun's habit, having once been a dancer for the tantalizing “Tease” revue.

“Nunsense” may convey all the swagger of a big budget Broadway transition, however you'd be surprised to learn this is a revue that shot to recognition on it's own two feet. Starting life at the Cherry Lane Theater, N.Y in 1985, the production moved to a near permanent residency at the off-Broadway Douglas Fairbanks Theater, where it stayed for ten years. Having grossed from over 4,000 shows, “Nunsense” had caught the eye of national critics, boasting a mainstay that led to it's becoming second only in longevity (of an off-Broadway show) to Lore Noto's “The Fantasticks”.

With a roaring plot-line and set-list comprising five parodying cover-songs alone, you know that “Nunsense” is going to at least test a few strategically scripted one-liners. Catholic jokes tend to slot neatly within the on-stage banter – the Reverend Mother setting up for many; “a recipe for Mary Magdalene tarts? I bet they're easy!” Hit cabaret show tunes backed by a live pianist and percussionist bring out the bar-room brashness of Mother Superior, while Sister Amnesia's well timed memory loss episodes occasionally influence a stop-start comedy to a few tracks of the musical score.

Parodies and platitudes aside, “Nunsense” represents a time-honored show, that still exudes that same get-up-and-go it had on opening night. Goggin's off-Broadway revue is now considered such a classic, it has influenced six sequels, including a “special” that charts the adventures of the fivesome to Las Vegas. “Nunsensations” realizes the true ambitions of the sisters – clearly Glitz Strip stars in the making. Whether they can cut it on their next big adventure, is as debatable as whether the Reverend Mother finally secures the funds for those funerals. Will “Nunsense” see the deceased sister's on ice finally given a dignified send-off? “Nunsense” promises to keep you guessing until it veers off to a spectacular conclusion!

While unfair, it is hard not to draw comparisons with “Nunsense” to the now Broadway-booming “Sister Act” stage show. Hankering for something a little alternative to the illusionists and comedians lining the Strip? Breaking the “habit” of many a Vegas visitor, and heading to a classic musical like “Nunsense” could just be the dose of different required!