By McKenzie Synal
Nuncrackers is the fourth play in a series of musicals created by Dan Goggin. This is a stand-alone musical, the first song “Christmas Time Is Nunsense Time”, serves as all the introduction you will need to understand the premise of the show. Nuncrackers gives us a behind-the-scenes experience as nuns, a priest, and three students tape their first Christmas TV special. We take on the role of the live studio audience as we sing along, and interact during several segments. It takes place at Mount Saint Helen’s Covent and immediately goes south with a power outage and the star nun ending up at the hospital. As merry chaos ensues the cast lives the mantra, the show must go on!
A bright royal blue background is adorned with silver sparkly snowflakes and Christmas trees are creatively made with wrapping paper triangles thanks to Set Design by Tina Fontana. Photos of Christ and several crosses adorn the stage giving us a small glimpse of what is yet to come. The set itself is minimal with an emerald green squishy armchair and a mock fireplace, but it is quickly filled with an exuberant and quirky cast of characters. Each one takes a turn in the spotlight and excels at the interchange of being a backup dancer or a soloist depending on the song. They bring humor and sentimentality as needed. Nuncrackers is cheesy but openly acknowledges that fact as they pour on the jokes and invite us in with a laugh and a big wink.
Each nun has a definitive character and exaggerates it through improv and the many comings and goings during the play. T’naiha Ellis as Sister Robert Anne is hilarious. Her antics and singing during “Twelve Days Prior to Christmas”, “Jesus Was Born In Brooklyn”, and “We Three Kings of Orient Are Us!” are a delight. The choreography by Rebecca Boberg involves everyone and makes excellent use of the space. Whether Ellis is singing a beautiful ballad or being a funky backup dancer, it is clear she has range. She sings in a clear strong voice and hits the high notes with ease. She is my favorite character and I kept looking for her reactions as the scenes unfolded.
Emma Rollins as Sister Mary Paul (Amnesia) comes in as a close second with her naiveté and puns. She leads the Secret Santa Gift segment and her comical responses as she gives random audience members gifts have the entire audience laughing and following along waiting to see what will come out of her mouth next. She solos in “Santa Ain’t Comin’ to Our House”, a countrified song complete with red cowboy hats that are trimmed in white and Santa beards on the rest of the nuns. During this number, Rollins is the main nun to interact and lead the young ensemble (Ryker Son as Billy, Pepper Baxter as Louisa, and Lucy Schelin as Maria). They star in Christmas spoofs such as “Here We Come-a-Waffle-ing” and “The Holly and the Ivory”. Schelin is confident and sings clearly in each of her songs. I love the whistling done by all of them in the “I’m Santa’s Little Teapot” and the energy they bring to the stage during the live nativity scene and the nutcracker scene.
Greg Rampton as Father Virgil Manly Trott has a big personality, with Christmas socks peeking out under his church pants and a willingness to don any costume for the show to go on. He does a boozy Julia Child’s cooking impression on the Julie, Child of God cooking segment, that has the audience roaring with laughter. Rampton and Kelsey Mariner Thompson as Reverend Mother Mary Regina, run a QVC type segment called the Catholic Home Shopping Network. They genuinely have fun rifting off each other and the script flows so well it is impossible to tell if it is improvisation or just a perfectly executed scene. Thompson is fantastic at using body language to communicate to the audience. Her hand gestures during “An Old Time Carnival Christmas” keep the focus on her, despite not having ensemble or big dance choreography during the song.
During “It’s Better to Give Than To Receive” Tanika Larsen as Sister Mary Hubert moves everyone to a hand-clapping, gospel-rousing song with a sweet message. Although it proved a group of Utahns still can’t clap on the beat. Larsen has a lovely rich voice and a wonderful stage presence. I could listen to her speak all night. She is very expressive and her eyes capture emotional storytelling well.
Directors Howard and Kathryn Little sum it up perfectly in their program note stating, “This is a very silly show – we’ll say it outright. A very silly show with a lot of heart and joy and love and maybe even some pretty important things to say – for instance, about stereotyping people who dress differently than we do, about expecting people to approach God the way that we do, about realizing that behind every face is a lifetime of experiences that are unique and rich and full of lessons that we can learn from if we choose to.”
Go see Nunsense, it is the epitome of community theater, full of connection and humor, and zany fun characters. Call PG Players today at 801-400-1797 or reserve your tickets by going online to pgplayers.com
This show is appropriate for all ages, the theater asks that kids are ages 5 and up and for no babes in arms.
PG Players presents Nuncrackers, Music, Book and Lyrics by Dan Goggin
Keith Christeson Theater, 30 East Center Street, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062 (Basement of Pleasant Grove Library)
December 2 – December 19, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays, and Tuesdays at 7:30pm, with a matinee on Saturday, December 17 at 3pm.
Get your tickets by calling us at 801-400-1797 or online at pgplayers.com
This production is supported by grants from the Pleasant Grove Arts Commission and PG CareTax.
Tickets: Adults- $15, Students and Seniors- $14
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