THEATER IN A NUTSHELL:
THE TRAGIC AND HORRIBLE LIFE OF THE SINGING NUN
THE BASICS: This is Brian Fell’s spoofy semi-biography of Jeanine Deckers, the Belgian Sister who rocketed to fame with the song “Dominique,” then plunged into sad obscurity, ending her life as a suicide. The Buffalo United Artists‘ production, directed by Chris Kelly, plays Friday and Saturday nights at the BUA’s new home, at 119 Chippewa Street, through August 29th. The show runs about an hour and three quarters, with one ten minute intermission.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH: SINGING NUN is yet another offering in the BUA’s continuing Summer Camp series, And campy it certainly is! Author Fell sketches Sister Jeanine’s rise and fall in bold, playful strokes, angling for laughs with material that might well have made for a good straight drama. A quick trip to Google shows that some of the goofy details, like Sister J’s follow up ode to the Golden (contraceptive) Pill, and her last sad comeback bid, with a disco version of “Dominique,” are straight from the history book. Most of the outrageous characters in the story seem to be completely or largely fictitious, however. The play is a pretty iffy hybrid, in my opinion.
THE CAST: BUA favorite Jimmy Janowski, in the title role, goes a long way toward carrying the production. He looks ridiculous, of course, but he actually crafts a likable character, with nice little touches that keep it from gross caricature. Caitlin Coleman treads a similar path as Jeanine’s nerdy childhood sweetheart, Annie–though her character is admittedly more of a cartoon. There is precious little subtlety anywhere else on stage. Particularly over the top are Guy Tomassi’s drag-queen Sister Coco, and Kerrykate Abel’s fire-breathing Mother Helen. Pretty Susana Breese does win some laughs with her impish Sister Maria (think The Sound of Music meets Mad Magazine), a fountain of smiling duplicity. Beefy Eric Rawski injects a little welcome machismo into the proceedings as the oversexed Priest/promoter, Father Lyon.
PRODUCTION VALUES: It seems that director Chris Kelly has encouraged the sort of “coarse acting” we so often get with spoofs. The script contains funny lines and bits that would, however, be much more effective if less emphatically played. There is virtually nothing thrown away in this production, and that’s a shame. Sometimes less is truly more…
Costumer Chevron Davis has amped up the evening with a trunkload of glitzy, glimmering things. My favorite–a large peacock feather headress that, sadly, gets very short shrift…
A word on the new BUA space: it’s a small black-box theater, set up proscenium style, and with no rake. This means that those of you who are vertically challenged may want to arrive early to grab front seats.
FINAL THOUGHTS: I had a pretty good time at THE SINGING NUN, despite the probematic nature of the script and the “bigger is better” approach of this production. Others in the audience were really reveling in all the silliness, and would probably have rated the show at least one buffalo higher than me. Personally, I can go no more than…
RATING: THREE BUFFALOS (and I’m rounding up!)