The Bluefield College Theatre Department will present the musical, Nunsense, by Dan Goggin, as part of The 2018 Homecoming & Family Weekend celebration. Performances will take place November 1-3 at 7:30 pm and a Sunday matinee on November 4 at 3:00 pm. Friday and Saturday performances of Nunsense will be presented as a dinner theatre; Thursday and Sunday are show only. Tickets for show only are available at the door for all performances; cost is $10 for adults and $5 for students and senior adults. Dinner theatre tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students and sr. adults. Dinner theatre is by reservation only. For tickets go to bluefield.edu/homecoming.
Nunsense made its stage debut in 1985 and ran Off Broadway for ten consecutive years to become the second longest-running Off Broadway show in history (after The Fantasticks). Since that time the play has been adapted for television, been translated into 26 foreign languages, and engendered six sequels and three spinoffs.
The story tells the tumultuous tale of The Little Sisters of Hoboken, who face terrible hardship after a misguided convent cook manages to kill off more than half the order with a case of vichyssoise-born botulism. The 19 remaining sisters of the order are raising money to pay for the burial of the 4 uninterred nuns who are currently resting in the deep freeze in the convent’s kitchen. The fund raising efforts are led by Sister Maria Regina, the mother superior; Sister Hubert, the mistress of novices; Sister Robert Anne, the convent’s driver; Sister Mary Leo, a novitiate who hopes to be the first dancing nun; and Sister Mary Amnesia (who lost all memory of her true identity when she was struck on the head by a falling crucifix.). They are joined by a chorus and combo of the surviving sisters for an uproarious two-hours of song and dance.
Mother superior is played by Alexa Shlimmer, a voice teacher with the Bluefield College Music Department. Sister Hubert is played by Tiffany Carter, Bluefield College alumna and drama coach at Bland High School. Sister Roberta Anne is portrayed BC Alumna and Bland County Librarian, Cameron Botts Burton. Sister Mary Leo is played by Bluefield College Theatre student, Ashley Rose Burton. Sister Mary Amnesia is played by Jennifer Payne, minister of music at First United Methodist Church of Richlands. Chorus members include Mindy Blume, Breanna Buterakos, Sharon Cobbler, Melissa Denson, Mary Jones, Staley Lyle, Layton Romano, Katherine Shumate, Alexandra Stout, and Madeline Surles. The production is directed by Bluefield College Theatre Department faculty Charles M. Reese and Rebecca McCoy-Reese; music direction by Alandra Blume, and choreography by Ashley Rose Burton.
“Nunsense is LOTS of fun,” said director Reese. “There is loads of chemistry in this cast. The sense of ensemble and play is palpable. This cast is the definition of synergy! Audiences are going to fall in love with The Little Sisters of Hoboken!”