Like an Old Habit, ‘Nunsense!’ Is Back Again

SPECIAL TO THE TIMES —  You needn’t know the difference between a missal and a wimple to appreciate “Nunsense!” but it wouldn’t hurt. Ostensibly a fund-raising musical revue produced and performed by a troupe of nuns, Dan Goggin’s hugely popular show is aimed at people who have experienced Roman Catholicism firsthand. Loaded with inside references and broad puns, it satirizes ritual, not doctrine.

Anyone who missed the Great “Nunsense!” scare of 1993-95--four stagings of the show between Ojai and Thousand Oaks in 15 months’ time--can catch up now. The production now playing at the Camarillo Community Theatre is the last “Nunsense!” scheduled for Camarillo until, well, March, when the Marquie Dinner Theater stages its edition, a couple of miles away.

Rochelle Wiltfang is featured as Sister Mary Regina, Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of Hoboken. Her charges include Linda-Marie as Sister Mary Hubert, Mistress of Novices; Annie Sullivan-Mauger as Brooklynite Sister Robert Anne; Kerry Mauger as naive young Sister Mary Leo; and the fellow who chooses to call himself Spanky playing the nun who--having been hit on the head by a falling crucifix--lost much of her memory, and is now called Sister Mary Amnesia. Spanky directs, with musical direction by Linda-Marie and George Morgan, the latter of whom supplies live accompaniment at the keyboard.

Unseen, but an indication of Goggin’s humor, is the convent’s cook, Sister Julia--Child of God. In case somebody misses the witticism, it’s repeated. And so it goes, mixing the jokes with songs, including “Tackle That Temptation with a Time Step” and a rousing “Holier Than Thou” that has these Little Sisters shouting and clapping their hands.

Audiences love this show and this company puts it across with the kind of enthusiasm that will render it, perhaps, tolerable even for its detractors.

*

Actor-Director Reveals Himself: For the best in Ventura County’s 1993-1995 spate of “Nunsense!” productions, two of the nuns were portrayed by men. More unusual still, the two--Sean Moran and Spanky, whose name reflects his and the “Our Gang” star’s relative girth--didn’t share the joke with the audience. There was no indication in the program notes.

As Spanky recalls, “When I joined the opening-night reception after the show, changed to my street clothes, people were looking around for the ‘girl’ who played Sister Amnesia. They wouldn’t believe it was me, until I gave them that ‘Amnesia look.’ We didn’t do it campy, at all.” Raised in Tulare County, Spanky moved to Ventura County in 1989, “to be closer to Hollywood.

For a living, Spanky, now 28, takes day jobs in the entertainment industry (costumes, makeup and so on), and works as a female impersonator in L.A. and in local clubs including Club Alternative in Ventura.

Originally scheduled to direct this production of “Nunsense!” Spanky stepped in to act when the woman he originally cast as Amnesia dropped out. The show took the place of “The Sound of Music” on the company’s schedule. And if the Camarillo Community Theatre does stage its postponed “Sound of Music” next year, Spanky says that he’s planning to audition. As a nun, of course.

BE THERE

“Nunsense!” continues through Nov. 23 at the Camarillo Community Theatre, Skyway Drive on the Camarillo Airport grounds. 8 on Friday and Saturday evenings and 2:30 Sunday afternoons. $10; $8 for seniors, students and active military, and $5 for children. $25 admits two adults and up to 3 children. (805) 388-5716.