There is a tendency these days to turn every comic book into a major motion picture: Spider-Man, Elektra, Catwoman. There is also a tendency to turn every hit movie into a big Broadway musical: Spamalot, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, The Wedding Singer, Shrek. But a musical based on a line of greeting cards? Yes, indeed, and the show is celebrating its 20th anniversary year with this production. Playwright-lyricist-composer Dan Goggin put his actor friend Marilyn Farina in a nun's habit and launched a series of Sister Mary Cardella greeting cards in the early 1980s. This writer and former altar boy gave many of them to friends. In December 1985, Goggin created the long-running Off-Broadway hit, which starred Farina as the Mother Superior of the Order of the Little Sisters of Hoboken. Twenty years on and five sequels later, the original is still the best, as witnessed in this production directed and choreographed by Ray Limon.
The plot is minimal. The convent's chef, Sister Julia, Child of God, made a batch of bad vichyssoise that killed 52 nuns. Before they all were buried, Mother Superior bought a VCR, and now the Board of Health wants those final four blue nuns out of the freezer and into the ground. The survivors put on a revue to raise the funds.
The cast is a tightly knit ensemble in the group numbers, and every cast member gets a chance to shine in solo spots. Karen McClain, as Sister Mary Hubert, brings down the house with her gospel belting of "Holier Than Thou." As Sister Mary Amnesia, Monica Smith's soaring coloratura sparkles throughout, and she's delightful in the country-western "I Could've Gone to Nashville." Cathy Gene Greenwood plays former circus star Mother Superior, who tries to keep her nuns in line but hogs the spotlight. Greenwood is hilarious as a nun on poppers. Susan Hoffman as the streetwise Sister Robert Anne provides stellar comedy as she uses her habit to present impressions of everyone from Margaret Hamilton to Katharine Hepburn. Laura E. Taylor shows off her balletic grace as Sister Mary Leo.
If you haven't seen a nun en pointe, or a kick line of nuns in a while, you need to see this borderline sacrilegious and oh-so-much fun show immediately, or say five Our Fathers and 10 Hail Marys.
"Nunsense," presented by and at the Welk Resort Theatre, 8860 Lawrence Welk Dr., Escondido. Tue. 1:45 & 8 p.m., Wed. 1:45 p.m., Thu. 1:45 & 8 p.m., Sat. 1:45 & 8 p.m., Sun. 1:45 p.m. Mar. 31-Jun. 5. $33-55. (760) 749-3448.