‘Nunsense’ revival looks none too divine

Silver anniversary staging dulled by so-so Little Sisters of Hoboken

BY MICHAEL SOMMERS

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

OFF BROADWAY REVIEW

In the 25 years since "Nunsense" premiered at the Cherry Lane Theatre, Dan Goggin's zany musical about the merry Little Sisters of Hoboken performing a benefit show has racked up more than 8,000 productions (including its six sequels) and grossed more than $500 million.

Too bad the revival that opened Sunday (once again at the Cherry Lane) lacks the essential spark of nuns-gone-wild artlessness that makes the musical so endearing.

Ably if routinely staged by the author himself on Barry Axtell's requisite set depicting the green and yellow environs of the Mount Saint Helen's School auditorium, the musical is competently rendered by a five-member cast. However there's strangely little spontaneity to the giddy goings-on as the sisters gambol through numbers like their tap-dancing "Tackle That Temptation with a Time Step" or express their devotion to God and showbiz.

Heaven knows Goggin's cute material is tried and true, but the resulting amusement is sporadic at best.

Blame uninspired casting. Stoutly presiding over the proceedings as the Irish-accented Reverend Mother Regina, Bonnie Lee funnily resembles Queen Victoria in a wimple but only cuts loose believably when her character unwisely investigates the contents of a bottle of poppers confiscated from a kid's locker.

Without eclipsing the blessed memory of Semina DeLaurentis' original creation, a sweet, giggling Jeanne M. Tinker is nicely glassy as eternally vague Sister Mary Amnesia. If her pipsqueak voice does not rise to the character's "I Could've Gone to Nashville" defining moments, Tinker provides a pixilated presence.

The others try very hard but really aren't much fun as nuns, so let's pray they somehow relax more into the disorderly swing of things as the lackluster revival toddles along into the summer.

"Nunsense" continues through July 18 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, 38 Commerce St., New York. Call (212) 239-6200 or visit www.cherrylanetheatre.org.