Lakeland Players to present “Nunsense” next two weekends
By Kellen Olshefski
SLN Staff
The Lakeland Players are gearing up for a production that is complete and utter “Nunsense.”
Over the next two weekends, the cast and crew of the group’s production of “Nunsense,” will perform the musical six times. Performances will be held Oct. 14 to 16 and Oct. 21 to 23 at the Walworth County Performing Arts Center, 15 W. Walworth St. in Elkhorn. Friday and Saturday performances are held at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday performances starting at 3 p.m.
All tickets cost $15 and can be purchased at the Elkhorn Area Chamber of Commerce, 203 E. Walworth St., reserved for pickup at the door by calling (262) 723-4848, or ordered online at lakeland-players.org.
Co-director Linda Kouzes said rehearsals have been going great so far and this week, the group is running several dress rehearsals, including a rehearsal in front of a live audience on Thursday.
“As far as I’m concerned, the show should be ready to go,” she said. “We’re right on schedule.”
Kouzes said everyone has been putting their best forward so far.
She described the show as being catchy and upbeat, noting that all of the musical numbers throughout the show are great.
As for what to pay attention to with this production, Kouzes said most of the songs tell a story.
“Listen for the story line, because there are questions and answers with the audience,” she said. “The nuns ask them questions.”
Kouzes said the nuns will also be interacting with show-goers before and after the show and also during intermissions.
While all the talk of nuns might make it seem like a religious show, Kouzes said it’s actually not that at all.
“It’s just a fun, upbeat and entertaining show,” she said.
For those unfamiliar with the show “Nunsense,” Kouzes said the set might be a bit of surprise when attendees enter. Focused on a Catholic school’s production of “Grease,” she said most attendees will recognize various aspects of the set.
“The set is a ‘Grease’ set with the counter, the little bedroom, the high school logo,” she said. “It’s really cute.”
As for the cast, Kouzes said they’ve ramped the cast up a little bit, with the original show calling for only five nuns and the Lakeland Players production featuring nine total.
“It fills up the music a bit more and the dancing looks a bit better,” she said.
Kouzes also noted they’ve added a priest, to be played by the show’s stage manager.
Cast members come from throughout the area including Whitewater, Lake Geneva, Delavan, East Troy and even as far as Loves Park, Ill.
While the show does feature some slight innuendos, Kouzes said the show is truly a family show and any adult comedy will easily go over children’s heads.
More about ‘Nunsense’
According to Kouzes, the show “Nunsense,” written by Dan Goggin, tell the story of what happens to The Little Sisters of Hoboken when 52 of their members are wiped out by botulism in the convent kitchen.
The nine remaining nuns manager to bury 48 of them, but when they run out of money, the four departed sisters are kept in the freezer and the remaining nuns decide to put on a show to raise the money needed to bury their “blue nuns.”
The Lakeland Players production is co-directed and choreographed by Pam Danovich and Kouzes, both of Delavan. Musical direction is by Amberleigh Aller, of Lake Geneva, with Kathy Middleton, of Burlington, as an accompanist. Cece Danovich, of Delavan, is the dance captain.
