Musical comedy shows provide an audience with great entertainment, but they also require performers of exceptional talent who are not only musically proficient, but who also have the acting skills, and energy, to generate the comedy required.

Fortunately, Wing It Productions Ltd have all this and more in their production of Dan Goggin's Nunsense, a light-hearted and irreverent musical comedy about a group of nuns, currently playing at the Gryphon Theatre.

The five nuns in question are the sole survivors of the Crofton Downs Convent, following the deaths of the rest of their fraternity from botulism after eating Sister Julie, Child of God's vichyssoise.  Unfortunately, they have insufficient funds to pay for the burial of the four remaining nuns, so they decide to put on a talent show in order to raise money for their funerals.

And so, Nunsense is essentially a series of song-and-dance routines showing of the talents of the five nuns and Dan Goggin's way of mocking the stereotypical perception of nuns in a convent and satirising many of the dogmatisms and doctrines of the Catholic Church. All of which is played out to the max in a high-octane show with director Lyndee-Jane Rutherford, musical director Michael Nicholas Williams and choreographer Rochelle Rose producing stellar performances from an outstanding cast.
Full of confidence and energy, the five actors work as a tightly controlled unit, bringing lots spontaneity and creativity to the production, each making their character uniquely their own. 

Not only do they bring all this alive through their acting skills, but they are all excellent singers and dancers as well. Jane Keller leads the group with a great performance as the Reverend Mother, her comic antics at the end of the first act absolutely brilliant.  As her sidekick Sister Hubert, Bronwyn Turei is a great foil to her, with lots of animated humour, while Rochelle Rose as Sister Robert Anne also has some wonderful comic moments.

Tania Parker, as the country-and-western nun Sister Amnesia, has a great puppet routine and Rebecca Tate, as the novice Sister Leo, shows off her dancing skills to great effect, to make this toe-tapping whimsical show a great night of entertainment.

With a full house of supporters and sponsors, the Gryphon is alive with the sound of Nunsense.

Written by Dan Goggin over 30 years ago, Nunsense is one of the longest running Off-Broadway musical hit shows in history. Given tonight's performance by Wellington's newest theatre company Wing It Productions, I can see why.

What a gem of a production! From the get go the Little Sisters of Crofton Downs have the audience clapping, cheering, confessing and dissolving into raucous laughter. 

The premise for the story – the sudden death of fifty two Nuns through food poisoning – is probably not supposed to be funny, except it is, especially when re-enacted by Sister Mary Leo's (Rebecca Tate) dying Nun ballerina.

The dilemma of how to pay for the burial of the last few bodies currently on ice in the cafeteria freezer, results in a fundraiser variety show performed paradoxically on the set of the local schools production of Grease! (Set design Ben Emerson and Jeff Hewitt – also lighting designer).  

The hilarious, irreverent and yet thankfully not gratuitously offensive revue that follows is packed with show-stopping song and dance numbers with plenty of 'convent humour'.

There is obviously scripting license to make things local and topical and director Lyndee-Jane Rutherford has cleverly put a Wellington and Kiwi-ana flavour into this production. She is expertly supported by her production team – one man band and maestro Michael Nicholas Williams and choreographer Rochelle Rose, who also plays Sister Robert Anne with vim and vigour.

All five performers are fantastic and these dynamic and challenging characters give them all a platform to inhabit (ba dum tish) their roles and show off their craft with everything from puppetry, ballet, Marx Ba rother-esque comedy, and plethora of musical theatre singing and dancing styles.

The choreography is slick and the ensemble choral sound (I love that there is no added amplification) is resounding with excellent harmonies, although the head voice tone is sounding tired overall. But the energy pouring off the Gryphon's intimate stage environs is infectious – which is amazing, given the heat and their costumes!

Jane Keller's Mother Superior is quick witted and her physical comedy in a scene where her character discovers some ‘sinful' temptations is uproarious. (It also wouldn't surprise me if those burlesque feather fans turn up again in a one woman show some time).

Sister Mary Hubert (Bronwyn Turei) delivers pithy one-liners, funky moves and outstanding soulful vocals – bringing the house down in the final number, ‘Holier than Thou', in true Sister Act style.

Tania Parker as Sister Amnesia (the nun who has forgotten her name because a crucifix fell on her head) brilliantly duets with the foul-mouthed puppet Sister Mary Annette in ‘So you want to be a Nun'. Her character seems to have forgotten which vocal style to sing in too as she runs the whole gamut of vocal timbres from opera to country (I could have gone to Nashville)! Such a demanding role, executed with panache.

It isn't just a frivolous farcical story though. Given that the writer based these characters on Nuns he knew while growing up, we do get an impression of the truth in the relationship between the characters, their dreams and aspirations, quirky humour and fun and the feeling of care and community within all the hilarity and pastiche.

So no matter if you are practising or lapsed in your religious persuasion, or not a believer at all, it's well worth seeing this wonderful production in all its Gloria-veil.

Nunsense begins when the five sisters of Crofton Downs discover that their cook, Sister Julia, ‘Child of God’, has accidentally poisoned 52 of her fellow nuns with an extremely questionable soup. Having dug deep into their coffers, the surviving sisters have managed to bury 48 of the dead bodies, as well as purchase a Smart TV and a PlayStation. With the health inspector knocking and 4 dead nuns chilling out (sorry) in the freezer, our sisters must raise the funds needed to respectfully dispose of the last of the dead.

What better way to fundraise than put on a talent show?

And so, in a school hall currently decked out with Grease memorabilia (set design by Ben Emerson and Jeff Hewitt), our nuns put it all on the line in a singing, dancing, puppeteering extravaganza.

It’s a great premise best developed in the hands of a playful director, and that’s exactly what we have here. The little quirks of the show – the reverent reference to Berhampore, and the Kiwi-as sweet-as bro-as attitude of Sister Robert Anne (Rochelle Rose) for example – really sparkle.

The cast is outstanding. Though their execution of Rose’s clever choreography was not perfect, the actors clearly possess godsmacking talent.

Jane Keller (playing Reverend Mother) delivers a spirited performance and is outrageously funny when her character is confronted by the mortal sins of man. Bronwyn Turei (Sister Hubert) gives an animated yet focused performance, grounding the excitable ensemble around her. Her vocals are remarkable, as are Tania Parker’s, who plays the delightfully befuddled Sister Amnesia with adorable panache. Rebecca Tate (Sister Leo) plays a nun coming into her own with cheek and charm, while Rose brings mammoth energy to the table.

Mention must also be made to Michael Nicholas Williams, the exceptional musical director who drives the entire production with just a keyboard.

Nunsense is fun, frivolous, and funny – it’s enormously entertaining and a great escape from the daily grind.