What’s more fun than nunsense? More nunsense.
Lethbridge Musical Theatre continues the story of Sister Mary Amnesia, Sister Robert Anne, Sister Mary Leo and the Mother Superior, who were forced to hold a fundraising concert to bury their dearly departed sisters who died from eating poisoned soup and who they couldn‘t afford to bury otherwise in the musical Nunsense.
Lethbridge Musical Theatre put on the original production in 2016 and return with the sequel Nunsense 2, June 14-16 at the McNally Community Centre.
The sequel is a thank you concert for everybody who supported the nuns the first time, like in the original, everything that can go wrong does go wrong in the sequel — particularly revitalized Sister Amnesia, whose lottery winnings saved the day in the original, whose memory is slowly returning. This time she may be a Franciscan, she just forgot about it.
Stephanie Savage is excited to make her musical debut in Nunsense 2 as novice nun Sister Mary Leo.
“I took drama in high school. I’ve never done a musical before, but I’ve always wanted to be in a musical. It’s interesting, but three of the five of us have never really done anything like this before. It’s been a lot to learn, but it is a lot of fun. We have a really dedicated cast,” said Savage, who is also stage managing Shakespeare in the Park’s production of The Tempest, which opens June 28.
“Luckily I have a great assistant stage manager, Shelby Reed, for the Tempest. And Kate (Connelly, Shakespeare in the Park‘s artistic director,) has been really wonderful and amazing,” she continued, noting Nunsense 2 is a fundraiser for a bigger Lethbridge Musical production in the fall.
She is enjoying playing Sister Mary Leo.
“It’s been a lot of work but a lot of fun. Sister Leo is the novice. She’s young and sweet and definitely wants to be a star,” she said. She is joined by Hannah Lawson as Sister Robert Anne, Jan Jelli as Sister Hubert, Christina Peterson as the Reverend Mother and Monica Baczuk, the last nun standing from the last production, who played the Reverend Mother in the last production on Nunsense, but plays Sister Mary Amnesia in this production.
“I’m really glad I didn’t have to learn how to roller skate like Stephanie does. But I did have to learn how to play the accordion for this production, which has been fun. The keyboard part of it is similar to a piano,” she said.
“It’s a really strong cast. We really like each other. We even get together outside of rehearsals,” she said noting they rehearse almost every night.
Director Rita Peterson is a familiar face with Playgoers of Lethbridge, but decided to try something a little different by directing a musical.
“I had really enjoyed Nunsense. It was really fun. Nunsense 2 is beautiful, fun, moving and humourous,” she said.
“The cast is great. They‘re really dedicated. They rehearse five days a week and on their own time,” she said, adding directing a musical is a different experience than directing a play, like she has many times.
“You have to think about choreography too,” she said, adding she has a dedicated crew back stage including Gerry Unger, who is choreographing the show, new stage manager Lyle Boswell. “Sister” Jillian Bracken is back on piano and Sandy Brunelle returns as vocal director.
Another challenge has been trying to find rehearsal space, with the Yates Theatre still under construction.
“So we’ve been rehearsing everywhere, seniors homes, people’s basements. we’ve even been at Casa a couple of times,” Peterson said.
She is excited about the show. The big question in this production is Sister Amnesia.
“She may be a Franciscan. She won the lottery last time and saved them. This time, they’re afraid they will lose her and her money,” Peterson said.
Tickets for Nunsense 2 are available at Casa for $20. Nunsense runs at the McNally Community Centre (210075 Township Road 8-2) at 7:30 p.m. each night, June 14-16.
