I learned late yesterday that Dody Goodman passed away on Sunday. Dody was a gifted comedic actress, dancer, and performer who many people will remember from her role "Grease," although I'd contend her appearances in films like "Splash," where she wore her bra over her shirt playing Tom Hanks' ditzy-if-not-demented secretary, and on television shows like "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman," were just as memorable.Anyway, I'm bringing up Dody because she was also a mainstay in the musical "Nunsense." She played Mother Superior Mary Regina in the show, as well as in many of its spinoffs numerous times at the end of her career. In fact, she was in that role when the "Nunsense" tour came to my college in the late '80s.
Dody was spellbinding on stage and I can only hope that somewhere a group of nuns is celebrating her life and mourning her passing by staging their very own variety show.
It would be perfect!
For those of you who don't know "Nunsense," here's a quick summary of the plot:The musical features five of the 19 surviving Little Sisters of Hoboken, a one-time missionary order that ran a leper colony. Bad times have hit the convent. We learn that 52 of their nuns have just died, victims of a food poisoning incident -- tainted vichyssoise prepared by convent cook Sister Julia, Child of God.
With many burials to pay for, the Mother Superior, inspired by a vision, starts a greeting card company to raise funds. The greeting cards are an enormous success but, thinking there is plenty of money, the Reverend Mother buys a VCR (In the original script it is a VCR, but as VCR's have now mostly gone the way of the dodo, the splurge purchase is now usually an entertainment center) for the convent, leaving the sisters strapped for cash once again with four burials left undone.
The deceased nuns now in the deep freeze, they decide to stage a variety show to raise the necessary funds. The five nuns participating in the project are Mother Superior Mary Regina, a former circus performer who can't resist the spotlight; her competitive but dignified rival, second-in-command Sister Mary Hubert; Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is determined to be the world's first ballerina nun; and wacky, childlike Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head.
What follows is a laugh-a-minute performance filled with dance routines, unforgettable songs, and an audience quiz.
The November 7 performance of "Nunsense" at the BCPA is part of the show's 25th anniversary tour featuring Sally Struthers as the Mother Superior. Still best-known for her role as Gloria Stivic (nee Bunker) on the classic television sitcom "All in the Family," Struthers is a thrilling stage actress. I've seen her twice, starring as Ms. Lynch in a tour of "Grease" and playing Ms. Hannigan in the 20th anniversary tour of "Annie." People who know her from TV undoubtedly recognize she's a legend, but her talents really shine when she's live on stage.
One final fun story to tell about Nunsense. Sponsoring the BCPA performance is local couple Irv and Jobie Tick, who themselves have a long connection with "Nunsense." Twenty-five years ago, Irv and Jobie were among the original financiers of the musical, an opportunity Jobie still describes as "once in a lifetime." It's an investment that has reaped benefits for them for a quarter century, not just financially, but in the continued success of a show Jobie says they still find so charming.
Nunsense comes to the BCPA on Friday November 7
- The show's running time is approximately two hours, with one intermission.
- It's a show about nuns, so the humor is clean, but probably best enjoyed by someone who's 12 or older.
Have you seen "Nunsense?" Looking forward to seing it for the first time with us? Contribute your story to the blog by writing me at jaalberts@cityblm.org.
2 comments:
Everyone in Blooming-Normal should be very proud when NUNSENSE comes to town. If it wasn't for several friends and family from the B-N community, NUNSENSE would have never become the long-standing international hit that it is today and I wouldn't have a career.
So, thank you.
NUNSENSE opened in NYC Off-Broadway on December 12, 2005 and I was fortunate enough to be the assistant stage manager at the time paying about $100/week. I had given up up a promising career as a CPA in St. Louis the year before.
As a graduate of NCHS and ISU with degree in accounting and a minor in music and a deep love for theatre all my life, I was pursuing my dream of being on Broadway that began in Normal during the Parks & Recreation Theatre Program and summers at the Shakespeare Festival not unlike many others that aspire of making it on the Great White Way, but I got sidetracked.
A week after opening, the author (and only producer at the time) put up closing notice, so we were all going to be out of work for Christmas. After many discussions with the author, Danny Goggin, I was offered to become an associate producer (not really knowing what that meant at the time), but I needed to save the show, so I came back to Normal where my parents still live today and began knocking on doors including the one called "Mom & Dad."
We found enough crazy people that said "yes" to saving a new show about five crazy nuns that loved to tap dance to raise money to get the other nuns out of the freezer. It wasn't the typical Broadway storyline, but it worked and has worked for over 25 years and I found a new career that put the right and left sides of my head together.
In the early days, people forget that NUNSENSE like many shows struggle to find that loving audience that wants to have fun, laugh and even cry. It took us while, but NUNSENSE found its audience including four ladies see if over a 100 times, but it took the residents of Bloomington-Normal to save NUNSENSE over and over again as closing notices went back up more than once and two theaters kicked us out along the way (not believing). B-N came through each time, but as we were losing less and less money each week, we had continued hope. Then, with fortitude and determination, we all won out and NUNSENSE became a hit will all the success that followed including sequels and television specials and I will always be personally and forever greatful and glad the angels of B-N made out in the end beating Wall Street even in the best of times.
So, let me repeat, "B-N should be very very proud" for giving life to a show that has gone down in the history books as one of the most successful shows of all time and employed tens of thousands of actors, stage managers and others (saving other careers and even a few theatres in the process)afirming how important art and culture is to our lives and the economy.
Now, regardless of any difficulties we may all be facing, may NUNSENSE remind us to stop from time to time, laugh and have a crazy good time.
For me, I am still working in theater including two new shows bound for Broadway which I hope follow the success of Nunsense and eventually make it from New York to Bloomington-Normal.
Always,
Jay Cardwell
I saw Nunsense for the first time here in Bloomington at this performance. I had heard the wonderful stories of people here being responsible for it's success and I am very proud to know about it. It was a great show...all of the cast were incredibly good at singing, dancing and performing.
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