­Theater Review—

It’s True What They Say About Not Needing

To Be Catholic To Enjoy ‘Nunset Boulevard’

By Julie Stern

BRIDGEPORT — A few weeks ago I was approached by someone who asked me if I’d seen anything lately that I would recommend for her visiting in-laws. I said that there wasn’t much happening in the cold weather, but that I was due to see Nunset Boulevard, the latest incarnation of the Nunsense series, at Bridgeport Cabaret.

I started to say that I’m not a huge fan of the ongoing adventures of the Little Sisters of Hoboken, but she broke in to say that she thought it would be perfect — the combination of light musical and bring your own picnic would be an ideal treat for the out-of-towners, and inexpensive at that!

Well, I hope they went, and I’m sure they enjoyed it. I did.

Nunset Boulevard: The Nunsense Hollywood Bowl Show is  probably the best and funniest of the seven (or nine, depending on how you’re counting) versions of the singing, dancing, wisecracking women in wimples. The idea behind this one is that the five sisters — Reverend Mother Mary Regina, Sister Mary Hubert, Sister Robert Anne, Sister Amnesia, and Sister Mary Leo — have become so famous from their previous ventures, they have been asked to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. It is only after they get there that they discover the actual venue to which they have been invited is The Hollywood Bowlarama, a combination bowling alley and cabaret, complete with crackling P.A. announcements, and the periodic sound of crashing pins.

With cheerful acceptance, they decide to put on a revue anyway, and thereby hangs a show. As an afterthought, since they are in Hollywood, Sister Leo pursues a childhood dream and tries out for a role in a biopic about Dolores Hart, the star of Where the Boys Are, and the first woman to kiss Elvis Presley on film, who abandoned her movie career to become a Benedictine nun, and who is now the prioress of the Regina Laudis Abbey in Bethlehem, Connecticut. (In real life, Mother Dolores reportedly saw the show and loved it!)

Beyond that, there is no plot. The show is merely a vehicle for some genuinely beautiful voices, a lot of lively dancing (all the more droll since it is being performed by high kicking women in traditional “penguin” habits) and some great comedic bits. I especially liked the idea of having audience members participate in a “bowling” contest, using a twenty-pound frozen butterball turkey as the ball.

Dan Goggin, who conceived the whole Nunsense franchise and wrote both the words and the music for the twenty numbers, is at the top of his form here. The lyrics are genuinely clever, and Teri Gibson’s staging and choreography are lively and engaging.

Rich Hamson’s costume design is delightful, especially when he has the sisters draped in floppy dummies, to portray famous blonde sexpots of the Silver Screen. The cast of Lisa Asher, Laurie Birmingham, Bambi Jones, Jeanne Tinker and Stephanie Wahl are all richly talented.

As they say, “you don’t have to be Catholic to enjoy Nunset Boulevard.” The show manages to be both an affectionate tribute to the golden age of movies, and a youth spent in parochial school.

(Performances continue weekends until April 17 at Downtown Cabaret Theatre, 263 Golden Hill Street in Bridgeport.

Check the Theater listings in this week’s Enjoy Calendar listings, call 203-576-1636 or visit Dtcab.com for full performance and ticket details.)