PERRY — The holiday season is a great time of the year filled with family, friends, and loved ones. In this joyful time of year anyone can become overwhelmed from all of the activities and events this season brings. If you are looking for a great way to relieve the stress of this holiday season, seeing Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical directed by Katie Loftus at Heritage Theatre is a wonderful option. This show is such a fun and interactive show that you would not want to miss.
Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical was written by Dan Goggin and it is one of the sequels of Nunsense. In an earlier season at Heritage Theatre they produced Nunsense and so it was no surprise when the previous cast returned. Nuncrackers follows The Little Sisters of Hoboken along with Father Vigil and four students, as they record a TV Christmas special in the basement of the convent. Creating a TV special is not as easy as it seems. Throughout the musical there are many obstacles that have a major effect on the special; from a hurt ballerina to stolen gifts, this show will keep you laughing with every unexpected turn.
Show closes December 21st, 2024.
These obstacles were brought to life by a fun cast and the wonderful direction from Katie Loftus. The overall production was a joy to watch and had the audience pulled in from the first pre-show interaction. With fun and vibrant personalities from every character it was no surprise there was constant laughter from the audience. Each member of the convent worked really well together and created such a fun dynamic. This made all of the group numbers so entertaining to watch. One of the most fun relationships in this show was the rivalry between Reverend Mother Mary Regina, played by Stacey Keller, and Sister Mary Hubert, played by Hannah Atkinson. It was clear that Mary Hubert (Atkinson) was jealous and wanted Reverend Mother’s (Keller) position. It was always entertaining to see those two characters interact.
Outside of relationships there were some amazing performances from members of the cast. Sister Mary Paul (AKA Amnesia) played by Ashlee Giblette was one of the funniest characters of the show. Giblette did amazing at portraying the aloof nun of the convent and she was the most believable character. It’s clear that Sister Mary Paul was not always there with the funny moments of mis-interpreted lyrics such as “the holly and the ivory” (featuring ivory colored bed sheets) instead of “the holly and the ivy”. Sister Mary was very reminiscent of the classic innocent stock character. She is very sweet and doesn’t always get what is being said. On top of her acting abilities Giblette also had a wonderful singing voice. Giblette’s range was amazing to witness as she has a beautiful soprano voice heard in many of the group numbers. Giblette also had a solo with a country twang and she executed it amazingly.
Two other great performances were Atkinson as Sister Mary Hubert and her interactions with David Wilding as Father Virgil. Atkinson is such a fun performer to watch. From her commitment to the character to her stunning and powerful voice, she was a joy to watch. As stated above, watching the rivalry between Atkinson and Keller was one of the best relationships of the show. Wilding did a wonderful job at portraying Father Vigil. He was great at showing the range of the character. He was able to show the sweet and caring side of the Father and his unhinged side during the final part of the first act. One of the show’s funnest parts was the ballet at the end of the first act. Watching Father Vigil (Wilding) and Reverend Mother (Keller) battle over playing the part of the sugar plum fairy was hilarious.
The set for Nuncrackers, designed by Derek Hendricks, is very smart. It consists of two parts. The first half is the Christmas decorated basement of the convent which is seen for most of the show. The set’s second part is the kitchen where Father Vigil does a cooking special. This set was on top of a turntable that was made out of the stage. It was truly surprising when the crew of the show started to move the stage. I thought it was such a fun and smart idea for this show.
Overall the production of Nuncrackers: The Nunsense Christmas Musical was a very fun show to see. There are some moments of adult humor laced through the show but those jokes would go over children’s heads. I would recommend this show to anyone wanting to see a funny and lighthearted Christmas show!
