Nunsense! and its millions of sequels.
Nunsense! and its millions of sequels.
Nunsense! and its millions of sequels.#1
Posted: 3/2/11 at 10:23pm
I just saw Nunsense for the very first time (right?) at the PIttsburgh CLO this past weekend. Cute show, not a lot there, but fun, even today.
Are any of the sequels any good? Just curious. I feel like a newcomer to the Nunsense saga.
Updated On: 3/3/11 at 10:23 PM
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#2
Posted: 3/3/11 at 12:15am
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#2
Posted: 3/3/11 at 12:18amNunsene! and its many sequels are all done to death by community theatres in my hometown. I have never seen the show and have no interest in it whatsoever.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#3
Posted: 3/3/11 at 12:31am
The Nunsense sequels are a lot like what happens when you photocopy a photocopy and then photocopy the copy that you just made and then copy THAT copy...meaning that they get worse and worse as they go on.
You can easily see what the other Nunsense are like by renting Nunsense 2 and 3 from Netflix.
At this point, I think that they only way you can get Dan Goggin to stop writing the sequels is to drive a stake through his heart, cut off his head and fill his mouth with rosemary.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#4
Posted: 3/3/11 at 7:51amYou only need to see one NUNSENSE show, the original. All others are just a variation on that show.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#5
Posted: 3/3/11 at 7:56am
It's true that they are all the same show. That being said I really liked the original and part 2 still had some kick in it.
But from the third one on they're just uninspired.
Haven't seen Nuncrackers though.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#7
Posted: 3/3/11 at 9:38am
I really enjoy Nunsense. It's just silly fun. It really needs a talented cast to put it over though. But I think it's clever. "But as she was victory bound, her schnoz fell on the ground" Cooking with the BVM. "I'd sing songs like Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goal Posts of Life"
The sequels are dreary and not nearly as entertaining or clever and only seem to exist so that Vicki Lawrence could make a few bucks in her post-Carol Burnett career.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#8
Posted: 3/3/11 at 10:25amBack in 1984 at the Duplex (or was it 1983 at Don't Tell Mama?), it was good, silly fun. I'm not sure how it became so inflated...
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#9
Posted: 3/3/11 at 11:10amThe original is clever and fun when performed in a small space. When overblown for tours, like with the DVD performance, it comes off a bit cheap and loses some of its charm. The sequels basically just tell the same joke over and over. They mostly exist for amateur theatre groups and for audiences who haven't seen the original.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#10
Posted: 3/3/11 at 3:03pm
A local theatre just did Nunsensations here in LA and it was so bad, most of the audience left at intermission.
The show really needs talented people to make it work.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#11
Posted: 3/3/11 at 3:24pm^^^And people that are right for the parts. Boston once had a production of Nunsense starring Pat Carrol. In the Hubert role, they had an older white woman who just could not make "Holier Than Thou" work. Hubert needs to have a strong gospel belt.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#12
Posted: 3/3/11 at 10:13pm
The CLO's production was very good - Lenora Nemetz was Sister Robert Anne, one of the big highlights was hearing her sing about herself.
It is curious how such a little show with such easy jokes became a huge sensation.
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/10/04
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels.#13
Posted: 3/3/11 at 10:43pmIt's easy to produce and audiences always love a singing nun.
Swing Joined: 1/3/05
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels. #14
Posted: 9/24/11 at 12:47pm
Like all shows, there are good productions and bad productions, and productions for commercial theatre vs. the show that is only for the critics, or art. We need all types.
I think we have all left shows during intermissions from even the best of classic musicals, but they survive and Nunsense will continue to survive.
For those that were not even born in 1985, Broadway was in the midst of a major decline threatening to close and tear down many of its theatres and many theatres across the country were also suffering. I remember Nunsense came around at the right time became that show that was just fun with some people coming back over and over and over. Even the NY Times came back a second time and put it under a favorable spotlight. As a result, it survived another day. It was not an overnight success (it did get kicked out of 2 theatres on its way to the Fairbanks Theatre).
Across the country, theatres were also suffering (it was not a good time in theatre) and with no money a few theaters chose Nunsense as their last chance or close their doors. When these theatres survived and prospered with long runs, Nunsense was picked up with similar results. As a result, there are theatres still standing because of Nunsense.
Some theatres performed Nunsense as there opening show year after year after year as their own fundraiser to mount the rest of their season. They wanted something new and therefore Nunsense 2 was born and the rest continue to follow because of the demand from theatres is there and audiences keep coming like those that await Sex in the City 3.
So, Nunsense served and continues to serve its place and it also was a show that "yes" aging stars could keep working when the rest of the theatre world would kick them to curb. We can make fun of them, but when you are 50+, Nunsense will give you work and help pay the bills.
Not all theatre is to be great literary works. Some just need to be fun for those that want fun and maybe they will come back for something more challenging. The same exists in film and television. Not all audiences want the same thing or need the same thing. Just like Spider-man, it did not set out to be Les Miz, but 50% of its audiences have "never" been to theatre before - so is it a bad show because it is commerical, or because it succeeds and might just inspire a "new" theatre-goer to try a second show.
Most critics of Nusense cannot understand its success (with an element of jealousy), but in its simply core it works and continues and will continue.
I will always love to see that edgy show that the average patron would never choose, and may not rush to see Nunsense and have not seen a production in years, but I won't bash Nunsense and other shows like it that help theatres and fellow actors/actresses survive for another day.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/10
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels. #15
Posted: 9/25/11 at 12:28am
Quoth the Merm: "Ya can't beat a nun!"
[said when Mary Martin won the Tony for Best Actress in Sound of Music over Merman's performance in Gypsy]
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels. #16
Posted: 9/25/11 at 3:08am
^I will still never understand how that happened.
Nunsense is just okay. The rest are all just god awful. I worked crew for a HORRID, HORRID, HORRID production of Nunsensations! which is already one of the worst shows I've ever seen. Just so unfunny. The production was said to be the worst in the theatre's 80 year history.
I also saw JPAS (in New Orleans) do Scream Queens last halloween. It was Nunsense, but about B horror movie starlets. Perfect way to describe it: Nunsense with blood. Sounds like fun, but it was just really ridiculous.
There are shows like these that try and fail to be corny AND funny. They're just corny.
Nunsense! and it's millions of sequels. #17
Posted: 9/25/11 at 8:12am
I unapologetically love Nunsense. Love the McClanahan/White DVD, love it in community theater. I've seen it in huge auditoriums and tiny theaters; both can work, but require very different staging.
I don't think you have to be Catholic to appreciate Nunsense, but it sure helps.
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/5/03
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