Northern Stage to Present NUNSENSE: THE MUSICAL, 5/1-18

When you've written the second-longest-running play in Off-Broadway history, with 3,672 performances there plus over 5,000 separate productions around the world in 21 languages, you know you're doing something right. Meet Dan Goggin, the seminarian-turned-musical theater author, who launched Nunsense in 1985 and has since parlayed it into six sequels and a few other spin-offs. This musical comedy pokes gentle fun at Catholicism without being offensive and, most of all, portrays nuns as real people doing very funny things.

Nunsense, directed by Catherine Doherty, runs live on stage at Northern Stage at the Briggs Opera House in White River Junction, VT, from May 1-19, 2013. For tickets and information, call 802-296-7000 or visit www.northernstage.org.

Nunsense follows the foibles of the five remaining Little Sisters of Hoboken, who plan a fund-raising variety show at the auditorium of the Mount Saint Helen's School in order to pay for the burial of compatriots accidentally killed by vichyssoise prepared by their late cook, Sister Julia, Child of God. The group includes Sister Mary Regina, the Mother Superior, a former circus performer; the competitive second-in-command, Sister Mary Hubert; ambitious understudy Sister Robert Anne; the determined would-be ballerina Sister Mary Leo; and the sweet but somewhat dim Sister Mary Amnesia.

The cast of Nunsense features five outstanding actress/singers, including Northern Stage newcomer Sandy Rosenberg from the Broadway production of Mamma Mia! and Lisa Raggio (previously seen here in a staged reading of An Empty Plate in the Café du Grand Boeuf), whose Broadway credits include The Magic Show and Grease. Charis Leos is a Northern Stage favorite, most recently seen here as Mama Morton in Chicago, who has also performed at Northern stage in Annie (as Miss Hannigan), The Full Monty and Blithe Spirit, plus many more. Amanda Ryan Paige was featured here in Boeing-Boeing and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Emily Stockdale shows off her musical-theater talent after starring in the comedy Born Yesterday here.

Performances are Tuesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 5:00 p.m., except for the Opening Night performance on Friday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m., with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Thursday, May 9 and Saturday, May 18. The show is sponsored by Lake Sunapee Bank and River Valley Club.

CATHERINE DOHERTY is now in her ninth season with Northern Stage. She has directed over two dozen plays and readings here, including No Sex Please, We're British, Boeing-Boeing, M. Butterfly, The 39 Steps, The Elephant Man, Doubt and A Chorus Line. She has also directed at St. Michael's Playhouse. Catherine has appeared on stage in Northern Stage productions such as The Importance of Being Earnest, Romeo and Juliet, The Wizard of Oz and The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe. Before coming to Northern Stage, Catherine's credits include co-producing two Off-Broadway productions with Padua Playwrights. She was the assistant director and production stage manager of the Lincoln Center production of Normal Heart. Catherine has also worked with Paper Mill Playhouse (Milburn, NJ), The John F. Kennedy Center and Arena Stage. While in Los Angeles, she worked in a variety of capacities with television networks CBS, ABC and Fox. Catherine holds an MFA in Performance from the University of Georgia and an MFA in Film Direction from the American Film Institute. Her short film, Family Portrait, received the prestigious Ida Lupino Award for Outstanding Film Direction from the Director's Guild of America.

Northern Stage now stands as one of the most prestigious regional theaters in New England, one of only four independent theaters in the nation that is at least 40 miles from an urban center, exceeds $750,000 in annual ticket revenue, and produces a season of seven months or morE. Northern Stage has offered over 100 productions, including World Premieres such as The Shrew Tamer, Ovid: Tales of Myth & Magic and A Christmas Carol: The Musical. Other highlights include a staged reading of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with Patrick Stewart and Lisa Harrow and a reading of Resurrection Blues, with the playwright, Pulitzer Prize winner Arthur Miller, in attendance. The company has been honored with Moss Hart Awards for Excellence in Theater from the New England Theatre Conference five times, for productions of To Kill A Mockingbird (1999), All My Sons (2004), LES MISERABLES (2008), Hamlet (2009) and Amadeus (2010), as well as an Addison Award for The Shrew Tamer (2004) and Owl Awards for Best Actress and Best Musical (2010), Best Comedy Theater and Best Artistic Director (2011), and Best Dramas (2012).

Community support has enabled attendance to swell to over 30,000 in the last year to enjoy entertaining and thought-provoking professional theater and theater education here at the crossroads of northern New England. The company has also reached out to offer residencies and workshops at over a dozen area schools; initiated "Project Playwright," a literacy program for fifth and sixth graders; and conducted a statewide literacy program, The Big Read, under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Arts.

For information or tickets, call 802-296-7000, e-mail boxoffice@northernstage.org, or log on to www.northernstage.org. The Box Office at the Briggs Opera House is open beginning two hours before all performances; tickets for all shows are available by phone or at the Northern Stage administrative office at 76 Gates Street, White River Junction, Monday-Friday from 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.