Those Little Sisters of Hoboken are at it again, and this time the nuns mix Jewish jokes into their two-hour production. The fifth edition of the popular Nunsense series is Meshuggah-Nuns! and it\’s having its Blair County premiere as the Tyrone Community Players present their summer dinner theater at the Tyrone American Legion on Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12.
The fun-loving nuns are on the USS Golden Delicious for a \”Faith of all Nations\” world cruise. The ship has run into a terrible storm that has lasted six days and most of the people have become seasick, including the cast of Fiddler on the Roof. The only exception is the Jewish actor Howard Liszt (Steve Helsel) who was playing Tevye. As a result, this leaves Anatevka a few shtetl dwellers short.
The USS Golden Delicious captain knows that the nuns are show business savvy and he requests that the Sisters and Howard put on an original revue. As a result, Jewish jokes, references and traditions mix with Catholic humor, positions and practice. Howard teams with the Reverend Mother (Cindy Bennett), Sister Robert Anne (Darcy Wilson), Sister Hubert (Nancy Sloss) and Sister Amnesia (Sara Slep), and all rise to the occasion.
Essentially, there is no plot and this becomes a two-hour show with a magic act, a country western number and a lot of old vaudeville groaners involving both cultures. There is even a bingo game during intermission. Some of the \”hit\” songs are \”Contrition\” (based on Fiddler\’s \”Tradition\”), \”If I Were a Catholic,\” \”Three Shayna Maidels,\” \”Say it in Yiddish,\” \”Matzo Man\” (\”Macho Man\” takeoff) and the ever popular \”The Potchky Polka.\” Wait until you see those nuns do a Klezmer dance to that music. There is even a big production number called \”Das Boat,\” which parodies marine disasters from the Titanic to the The Poseidon Adventure (with Rev. Mother playing Shelley Winters in this scene). The nuns also sing a song that encompasses all of the song titles found in Fiddler.
Meshuggah-Nuns! has a very talented cast with first-rate singing voices who leave no gag or harebrained idea untried. Laugh In had nothing on these nuns. Cindy Bennett is wonderful as the Rev. Mother, especially when she dons a costume over her habit to do a great impression of Sophie Tucker singing \”My Fat Is My Fortune.\” Nancy Sloss as Sister Hubert really rocks in the final production number, \”Rock the Boat,\” which ends the review with chutzpah. Sarah Slep as Sister Amnesia is a hoot doing her amateur magic tricks, especially trying to get a rabbit out of a hat. Darcy Wilson as Sister Robert Ann finally gets to shine in her song \”I\’ll Find a Song to Sing.\” She has great vocal chops.
Meshuggah-Nuns! will be presented in dinner theater at the Tyrone American Legion on Friday, August 11 and Saturday, August 12. For ticket reservations, call 684-2782 or visit www.tyronecommunityplayers.org.
