Catholic humor fresh in Salem’s ‘Cabaret Class’

January 20, 2019 at 12:00a.m.

By Eric McCrea

Salem Community Theatre revisited Dan Goggin’s “Nunsense” catalogue with its latest production, “Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class.” A spin-off from the main series, this musical allows the sister to fulfill her dream of being a star.

Sister Robert Anne, played by the Rev. Kari Lankford is one of the more outrageous characters from the Nunsense series. A childhood delinquent from Brooklyn who found a better path through a nunnery, but still yearns to be a performer, the sister uses her stage experience to lead a class in putting together a cabaret act. Much like a cabaret act, this one-woman show features familiar songs sandwiched between lessons on stage presence.

Along the way, she also delves into her own past, bringing a lot more life to this beloved ornery nun. Catholic humor is of course a big part of the show but Robert Anne makes the old jokes fresh again.

Lankford also directed this show, which was full of challenges and opening night came with a few jitters to work through. A one-person show thrives on audience energy and weather conditions kept the attendance down. Connection with the audience is also heavily written into the script, and a bigger crowd would have helped this immensely.

The set list was taken from all six of the previous shows from the original “Nunsense” through “Nunset Boulevard.” In traditional Nunsense style, Lankford got the audience involved in “What Would Elvis Do” even pulling members on stage and getting everyone to sing along.

Lankford made easy work of classics such as “Playing Second Fiddle” and “Why Sing a Ballad.” However, the heavy load of songs in this show took their toll at some points.

“The Padre Polka” brought accompanist Father Bret played by Bret Cowden into the mix. He later subtly provided the voice for Sister Mary Annette as well.

Scenery, designed by Lankford, was minimal as far as construction, but was dressed perfectly, and it had a real classroom feel. Light cues were fairly static as one would expect in a classroom setting, with most of the cues involving the often used houselights during audience participation scenes.

Microphones were surprisingly reliable this time, with only very minor hiccups. The balance between vocal levels and the onstage keyboard were spot on.

“Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret Class” can be seen at the Salem Community Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and at 2:00 p.m. Sunday until Jan. 27. For reservations, call 330-332-9688.