Audiences have flocked to the Nunsense shows for more than two decades to guffaw and giggle at the nuns' sight gags, Catholic jokes, sprightly songs, high-kicking dance steps and forays into the audience.
Nunsense Jamboree, opening Friday at the Show Palace Dinner Theatre in Hudson, is the third in the Nunsense series. In the first, Sister Amnesia saved the convent from financial ruin when she suddenly remembered she'd won a mail-in sweepstakes.
In episode two, Sister Amnesia - now called Sister Mary Paul - landed a recording contract.
In this installment, she's off on tour to back her album, I Could've Gone to Nashville, accompanied by three other sisters and Father Virgil Manly Trott, played by director Matthew McGee.
This one has a country theme, so the characters have to be more down-home, McGee said. "But the great thing is that the nuns are so non-specific, they can be vessels for the actors' abilities."
McGee cast veteran Show Palace actor Sara DelBeato as Sister Amnesia (above).
"I knew she could sing, but it wasn't until after seeing her do (Fanny Brice in) Funny Girl that I knew she had that dottiness Amnesia has - and those big eyes she has."
Susan Haldeman is reprising her role as the tough street kid, Sister Robert Ann. Show Palace newcomers Karen Q. Clark and Kathryn Berrong play Sister Mary Wilhelm and Sister Mary Leo.
Nunsense Jamboree runs Friday through June 27 at the theater, 16128 U.S. 19, Hudson. Shows are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays and 1:30 p.m. June 3, 12, 17, 24 and 26. Doors open two hours before each show for cash bar and buffet. Dinner and show, $38.50; show only, $27.45; ages 12 and younger, $20.95 and $15.95, all plus tax and tip. Call (727) 863-7949 in west Pasco; toll-free 1-888-655-7469 elsewhere.
- BARBARA FREDRICKSEN, Times staff writer
Mahler marks a milestone
Stefan Sanderling winds up his first season as music director of the Florida Orchestra with Mahler's Symphony No. 5, which begins with a funeral march and ends more than an hour later with a boisterous, joyous movement.
The Fifth is probably Mahler's most optimistic work. He composed it about the time he was falling in love with his wife-to-be, Alma. The Adagietto, the fourth of the symphony's five movements, may be Mahler's most familiar piece of music. The flowing work for strings and harp is often performed independently. It's a favorite of choreographers and was featured in the 1971 movie Death in Venice, from the Thomas Mann novel about a Mahlerlike artist.
The program also includes Haydn's Sinfonia Concertante for winds and orchestra, featuring violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti, cellist James Connors, bassoonist Mark Sforzini and oboist Martin Hebert.
Concerts are at 8 p.m. today at Ruth Eckerd Hall, Clearwater; 8 p.m. Friday at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, Tampa; and 8 p.m. Saturday at Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg. $21 to $45. 813 286-2403 or toll-free 1-800-662-7286; www.floridaorchestra.org
