MOUNT VERNON — It’s appropriate that “The Padre Polka,” a lively Act I number from “Nunsense II: The Second Coming,” is a parody of “The Beer-Barrel Polka,” because the secret to pulling off this frothy but flawed musical is to barrel on through, hardly ever giving the audience a chance to dwell on the thin plot. Director Joseph Bell knows this secret, and his crisp direction of this sequel to the ever-popular (and unstoppable) “Nunsense” hit the target Wednesday night during a final dress rehearsal at the Memorial Theater.
All the stage business rests upon the shoulders of five actresses, who play a Mother Superior and four of her charges, as they put on a show. In the original “Nunsense,” they clumsily attempt to put on a theatrical fund-raiser (and use up all the best nun jokes). In the sequel, the show-within-a-show format is explained away as a “thank you” production for the audience. Although it occasionally pretends otherwise, the show is a piece of fluff, and its finest moments are found at maximum puffiness.
The actresses are led by Deb Gallardo of Fredericktown, who has made something of a specialty out of playing domineering mothers superior in shows like this. With the poise and hauteur that make her the very image of such a character, her skillful singing delivers the goods in vocal numbers. Gallardo’s best moments, though, are those places where she lets the character’s guard down and lives it up.
An example is toward the end of the first act, when she and Sister Mary Hubert, played by Mary Kepple, inadvertently get drunk and come down with the giggles. Kepple scores laughs with the strong contrast between the severity of her demeanor and the mischievousness of her witty asides to the audience. Kepple hammed it up during the final number of the show, although she doesn’t really have a bigger-than-life, belt-it-out voice such a number ideally requires.
But, then, who does? I see that as another weakness of this musical. A voice of that heft would stick out like a sore thumb in ensemble numbers, which dominate the show. So, Kepple smartly made the most of the situation by working the characterization of her role for maximum laughs in that number and elsewhere. And that’s the sort of theatrical savvy that is all over the place in this talented cast.
Sister Robert Anne, a street-smart New Yawk nun, was played with aplomb by Geri Schultz, in her Mount Vernon debut. Aplomb is really too weak a word. Schultz’s performance was tremendous, combining a perfect ear for a tricky accent with a physicalization of the character’s attitude that spoke as much, if not more, than the lines ever could. On top of that, she brought a rich and lovely voice to the songs, keeping just enough of the accent to stay in character, but not hesitating to unfurl a beautiful sound that serves to fill out the character in a way barely hinted at by the script.
But yet, one can’t say Schultz stole the show, when there was so much scene-wrestling going on in this fun production. One major rival for stealing scenes was Marty Bell, who played Sister Mary Amnesia with an irresistibly charming goofiness. The “lights are on, but nobody’s home” expression that Bell was able to summon in a number of scenes could make even a dead person come down with the giggles, but Bell’s shrewdness could be heard in her careful shaping of her silvery voice in vocal numbers.
Amy K. Clawson played the role of novice Sister Mary Leo with smiling grace, whether dancing a ballet or rumbling in to sing on roller skates. Her role is the play’s cloistered equivalent of an ingenue role, and Clawson reflected that by playing up Sister Leo’s winsome innocence. The lightness of Clawson’s voice was a little hard to hear in places against the musical accompaniment, but nonetheless sounded quite lovely.
The pit band, led by David Tovey, was actually playing on stage behind a scrim, and it was as crisp and precise as the acting and stage direction. The vibrant set pieces, costumes and lights helped make the show bright and bold. Kudos to Right Brain Productions for assembling a talented group of people to bring this show to life. Curtain times will be at 7:30 p.m. today, Friday and Saturday.
