Review: NUNCRACKERS at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre

This is not the first time the Little Sisters of Hoboken have brought their naughty and nice antics to The Milwaukee Rep – they’ve become a welcome habit for audiences – and this latest offering, “Nuncrackers,” delivers another holiday gift.

The sisters are recording their first cable-access TV Christmas special. Mother Superior Mary Regina (Isabel Quintero), Sister Mary Hubert (Meka King), Sister Mary Paul (Katie Kallaus) and Sr. Robert Anne (Ashley Oviedo).

They're joined in their hijinks by the long-suffering and occasionally tipsy Father Virgil (Seth K. Hale).

The women and man of the cloth involved the receptive Stackner Caberet crowd in the fun before and during the show and have them in thrall throughout, especially when the scatterbrained Sister Mary Paul distributes Secret Santa gifts – including 10 commandment stickers, where “you can just peel off the ones you don’t like.”

Another highlight was "In the Convent," a Village People-inspired appeal for vocations via “In the Navy.” Definitely a show-stopper.

Other delightful lyrical liberties were taken in re-imagined holiday classics such as “Here We Come a-Waffling” and “We Three Kings of Orient Are Us.”

Kelley Faulkner, who played Sister Robert Anne in Milwaukee Rep's 2019 production of "Nunsense" directed and choreographed this hilarious and sweet-spirited show.