More News

Don't be confused when you walk into Way Off Broadway and see a set designed for "Grease."

The Little Sisters of Hoboken have generously accepted the theater's offer to stage their benefit concert for their convent and are only there for one night. At least, that's how the Reverend Mother Regina explains it.

Yes, "Nunsense" is back at Way Off Broadway following a popular premiere in 2005 and its sequel, "Nunsense 2: The Second Coming," in 2007. But this time, there's a twist.

"Nunsense A-Men!" is a guys-only staging of the popular musical. The spoof debuted on Broadway in 1998 following a Brazilian rendition named "Novicas Rebeldes."

According to Way Off Broadway, this show is best described as "Mrs. Doubtfire enters the Convent."

Much like the original "Nunsense," the plot here is the discovery that 52 of Hoboken's sisters have been accidentally poisoned and need to be buried. After looking at their options, the remaining nuns have decided to put on a benefit performance to raise funerary funds.

Leading this pack of aspiring performers is Zane L. Oberholzer, Jr. as the Reverend Mother Regina.

Oberholzer manages to keep up an Irish brogue throughout and handily works off the comedy of this vagabond troupe.

Second banana in the musical farce is Sister Mary Hubert, the Mistress of Novices, normally played by Jonny Kigin, but replaced by understudy Jordan Stocksdale the night I attended.

Kigin is a winner at comedic timing – and Stocksdale did an admirable job filling in for the fast-paced comedy. These two are just a couple of sisters who discovered harmony. Stocksdale is also the shows' director and choreographer. Eric Seebach is the musical director.

Young Sister Leo (AJ Dorsey) is a novice who dreams of being a ballerina – and believe me, you haven't seen anything quite so funny as a sister ballerina. Shawn Nakia portrays the simpering Sister Mary Amnesia, called so because she doesn't remember who she is. Kudos to Nakia for hitting those high notes.

The cast is rounded out by Sister Robert Anne — a streetwise nun from Brooklyn, played by Jeremy Tramelle. Sister Robert Anne has aspirations for stardom and finds creative ways to use her habit to emulate a series of famous characters. The show's signature cocktail, the "Convent Miranda," is a nod to this nun's antics.

Believe it or not, "Nunsense" creator Dan Goggins originally launched a line of greeting cards featuring the sisters. Eventually, a cabaret was staged based on the cards, which led to "Nunsense" becoming the second longest running off Broadway production after "The Fantastiks."

The show's puns and obvious rhymes are delivered too fast to moan. The sisters promise early on "we are on our way to heaven, but we are here to raise some hell!"

Go ahead, get into the act.