The crew and cast at Whidbey Playhouse are ready to reveal their crack-up production of the irreverent musical “Nunsense.”
This highly entertaining show is the kind of high-profile, high-quality product Whidbey Playhouse delivers. But there are some behind-the-scenes upgrades that improve this community theater experience.
Those changes aren’t as edgy or sexy as watching a group of street-wise sisters of the cloth cavort on stage. Still, these changes produce divine results.
For instance, Whidbey Playhouse recently acquired a new pull-down movie screen and projector. This new equipment provided a night of supreme entertainment when the Playhouse held a “Mama Mia!” sing-along, which proved popular enough that about 60 people had to be turned away. Staff members of the 128-seat theater say there are plans for future sing-alongs.
Also, theater management cut back on the bureaucracy when they combined the Playhouse’s two boards into one board of directors. Now, there’s no longer an artistic board to beg for necessities from an executive board, thus creating more streamlined productions for the community.
Speaking of necessities, the Playhouse is to receive a donation of lights, props and other items in September from Oak Harbor High School, which is undergoing a remodel and will no longer need this theatrical equipment.
Also, Sue Riney is retiring after 25 years on the Playhouse board. This will free up her time to do more acting, which benefits everyone because “she is absolutely phenomenal,” director Rusty Hendrix said.
Riney plays Sister Robert Anne in “Nunsense” and is among a multitalented cast of women who can sing, tap dance and make audiences laugh out loud.
Each of the other starring sisters brings her own bag of devilish tricks and saintly talents.
Mary K. Hallen leads supremely, sarcastically and side-splittingly as Mother Superior. Allenda Jenkins uses her soulful and robust voice to belt out songs as Sister Mary Hubert. K. Sandra O’Brien is riotously goofy as Sister Mary Amnesia. Elizabeth Booth brings us a twinkle-toed Sister Mary Leo.
As the story of “Nunsense” goes, these Little Sisters of Hoboken are holding a fundraiser after discovering that their cook, Sister Julia, Child of God, had accidentally poisoned 52 of the sisters, and the remaining sisters don’t have enough money to bury them all.
The sisters decide to put on a variety show. Meanwhile, the health inspector has paid a visit and discovered some of the sisters on ice in a freezer. From there, the high jinks spin out of control and the audience is sent into heavenly spasms of hysterics.
“It’s a hoot,” actress Hallen said. “And nothing about the economy is in it.”
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