Living in Socorro as we do, getting to the theater can be quite a challenge at times. Saturday night Aug 19, provided a fine example of how being late to the theatre can sometimes pays off -- even if they lock the doors at curtain time and won't to let you in.
We left home at 6pm... believing we had plenty of time to drive to Las Cruces for an 8:00 curtain at Black Box Theater where "Doc Holiday and the Angel of Mercy" was playing for just two shows -- Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I told my wife I wanted to see this show weeks ago. I even visited the theater days in advance and reserved two tickets.
As it turned out, Mother Nature and the NM-DOT had conspired against us. Heavy rains and 20 miles of construction ate up our safety margin and then some. So, we arrived 10 minutes late at Black Box to find the play already in progress and the doors locked tight. Black Box has a published policy about this. We can't blame them for following their policy. Still, we were disappointed to find ourselves locked out from a play we wanted to see badly enough to drive two hours each way to do so. But as the French say, "C'est la vie!"
Accepting the inevitable, we agreed to circle the block and see what was playing at Rio Grande Theater and Las Cruces Community Theatre. In the end, that was a great decision. We soon discovered Las Cruces Community Theatre was performing a musical comedy written by Dan Scoggins titled "Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue". Here too, the play was in progress; but at least the doors weren't locked and we were able to quietly slip into the back of the theater at a moment when the audience was laughing so hard no one even noticed our tardiness.
As we entered, a guest in the audience won the keys to a non-existent car on the Nun's giant slot machine. Alas, the Sisters were too poor to actually buy the car. But they did at least provide the keys as the guest smiled and the audience roared in laughter. That moment set the tone of things for the whole rest of the show.
We soon forgot our earlier disappointment as we - along with the rest of the audience in the nearly full theater - got totally absorbed in the onstage antics of a group of habited Nuns who had agreed to perform a Vegas Show in exchange for $10,000 their convent badly needed.
Frankly, "Nunsense" was an absolute delight! The singing voices of the nearly-all-female cast were extremely impressive -- penetrating even to the very back of the packed theater where we were sitting with amazing clarity. The individual skits and jokes were funny without being the least bit risqué or off-color. The cast was clearly having lots of fun and as a result, the audience had a wonderful time too.
Although it was hard to pick "bests" in this delightful theatrical romp, after much discussion during the hour and a half drive home, we agreed the usually stern-faced Judy Bethmann as "Reverend Mother" must have been the hardest role to play and she did it extremely well. Despite her keep them-in-line role, she often crossed the line into humor as well. Indeed, coming from her, the funniest line in the play may have been when Bethmann quipped (referring to the club's owner), "If I get hold of him, he'll be singing Soprano!" By contrast, Kathleen Murphy as "Sister Amnesia" the very lucky "gambling Nun" provided delicious comic relief that helped soften several of the Reverend Mother's sterner moments. Janet Mazdra's performance as Sister Robert Anne was impeccable and her obvious flirting and winks at members of the audience was constantly funny too. Her singing voice is also quite incredible! Even in that crowded theater, Mazdra belted out songs like a dance hall queen blessed with the voice of an Angel. We especially enjoyed her 11:00 number, "Why Sing a Ballad". That song alone was worth the cost of admission. Thank you and Bravo, Ms Mazdra!
Also of note -- and especially enjoyable -- was Sister Leo's (Margie Eller Brouhard's) stellar performance of "I Left Him There". It was as poignant and beautiful as Sister Leo herself and provided another memorable moment in the show. And last but not least, Debbie Ringshall as Sister Hubert was consistently funny and proved to have a lovely singing voice as well. We particularly enjoyed her two performances with Reverend Mother in "What Plays in Vegas" and "Double or Nothin". Finally, though they never spoke, Stage Manager Ryan Romero and accompanist Robert Randall had their funny onstage moments too. Romero's unexpected appearance in checkered shorts drew laughs and applause from all.
Overall "best song" of the evening, T.T.M. & R. (Take the Money and Run) which was performed by the entire cast. Funniest moment... Sister Amnesia and her naughty puppet.
Special kudos go to director Art Haggerton and playwright Dan Scoggins for writing and producing this very funny and refreshingly clean musical comedy. From the audience's viewpoint they clearly did a great job.
In conclusion, "Nunsense" is a terrific show. It's funny and clean enough for the whole family. Everyone should enjoy it and no one need be offended by any of the lines. It proved to be a nearly perfect alternative to the play we were unable to see that evening. You can view our gallery of photos shot during the performance here (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php/cat/577).
We highly recommend Nunsensations. We enjoyed it thoroughly and believe you will too. Bring the whole family. I promise you'll ALL have fun!
For more information or to reserve tickets, visit: http://www.lcctnm.org/ (http://www.lcctnm.org/) Be sure to make a reservation. The 240 seat theatre had less than a dozen empty seats when the curtain rose on Saturday night and we took two of those. I'm personally glad we did.
By Greg Platt - Publisher
© 2006 SONewMex.com - Reprint Permission Granted
Living in Socorro as we do, getting to the theater can be quite a challenge at times. Saturday night Aug 19, provided a fine example of how being late to the theatre can sometimes pays off -- even if they lock the doors at curtain time and won't to let you in.
We left home at 6pm... believing we had plenty of time to drive to Las Cruces for an 8:00 curtain at Black Box Theater where "Doc Holiday and the Angel of Mercy" was playing for just two shows -- Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. I told my wife I wanted to see this show weeks ago. I even visited the theater days in advance and reserved two tickets.
As it turned out, Mother Nature and the NM-DOT had conspired against us. Heavy rains and 20 miles of construction ate up our safety margin and then some. So, we arrived 10 minutes late at Black Box to find the play already in progress and the doors locked tight. Black Box has a published policy about this. We can't blame them for following their policy. Still, we were disappointed to find ourselves locked out from a play we wanted to see badly enough to drive two hours each way to do so. But as the French say, "C'est la vie!"
Accepting the inevitable, we agreed to circle the block and see what was playing at Rio Grande Theater and Las Cruces Community Theatre. In the end, that was a great decision. We soon discovered Las Cruces Community Theatre was performing a musical comedy written by Dan Scoggins titled "Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue". Here too, the play was in progress; but at least the doors weren't locked and we were able to quietly slip into the back of the theater at a moment when the audience was laughing so hard no one even noticed our tardiness.
As we entered, a guest in the audience won the keys to a non-existent car on the Nun's giant slot machine. Alas, the Sisters were too poor to actually buy the car. But they did at least provide the keys as the guest smiled and the audience roared in laughter. That moment set the tone of things for the whole rest of the show.
We soon forgot our earlier disappointment as we - along with the rest of the audience in the nearly full theater - got totally absorbed in the onstage antics of a group of habited Nuns who had agreed to perform a Vegas Show in exchange for $10,000 their convent badly needed.
Frankly, "Nunsense" was an absolute delight! The singing voices of the nearly-all-female cast were extremely impressive -- penetrating even to the very back of the packed theater where we were sitting with amazing clarity. The individual skits and jokes were funny without being the least bit risqué or off-color. The cast was clearly having lots of fun and as a result, the audience had a wonderful time too.
Although it was hard to pick "bests" in this delightful theatrical romp, after much discussion during the hour and a half drive home, we agreed the usually stern-faced Judy Bethmann as "Reverend Mother" must have been the hardest role to play and she did it extremely well. Despite her keep them-in-line role, she often crossed the line into humor as well. Indeed, coming from her, the funniest line in the play may have been when Bethmann quipped (referring to the club's owner), "If I get hold of him, he'll be singing Soprano!" By contrast, Kathleen Murphy as "Sister Amnesia" the very lucky "gambling Nun" provided delicious comic relief that helped soften several of the Reverend Mother's sterner moments. Janet Mazdra's performance as Sister Robert Anne was impeccable and her obvious flirting and winks at members of the audience was constantly funny too. Her singing voice is also quite incredible! Even in that crowded theater, Mazdra belted out songs like a dance hall queen blessed with the voice of an Angel. We especially enjoyed her 11:00 number, "Why Sing a Ballad". That song alone was worth the cost of admission. Thank you and Bravo, Ms Mazdra!
Also of note -- and especially enjoyable -- was Sister Leo's (Margie Eller Brouhard's) stellar performance of "I Left Him There". It was as poignant and beautiful as Sister Leo herself and provided another memorable moment in the show. And last but not least, Debbie Ringshall as Sister Hubert was consistently funny and proved to have a lovely singing voice as well. We particularly enjoyed her two performances with Reverend Mother in "What Plays in Vegas" and "Double or Nothin". Finally, though they never spoke, Stage Manager Ryan Romero and accompanist Robert Randall had their funny onstage moments too. Romero's unexpected appearance in checkered shorts drew laughs and applause from all.
Overall "best song" of the evening, T.T.M. & R. (Take the Money and Run) which was performed by the entire cast. Funniest moment... Sister Amnesia and her naughty puppet.
Special kudos go to director Art Haggerton and playwright Dan Scoggins for writing and producing this very funny and refreshingly clean musical comedy. From the audience's viewpoint they clearly did a great job.
In conclusion, "Nunsense" is a terrific show. It's funny and clean enough for the whole family. Everyone should enjoy it and no one need be offended by any of the lines. It proved to be a nearly perfect alternative to the play we were unable to see that evening. You can view our gallery of photos shot during the performance here (http://www.steppinoutnewmexico.com/pp-514/showgallery.php/cat/577).
We highly recommend Nunsensations. We enjoyed it thoroughly and believe you will too. Bring the whole family. I promise you'll ALL have fun!
For more information or to reserve tickets, visit: http://www.lcctnm.org/ (http://www.lcctnm.org/) Be sure to make a reservation. The 240 seat theatre had less than a dozen empty seats when the curtain rose on Saturday night and we took two of those. I'm personally glad we did.