Ottawa Citizen

MAKING A HABIT OF HUMOUR

Hilarious high school production

- CHARLOTTE DAZÉ Critic, Mother Teresa High School

Comedy abounded in Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School’s jovial production of Nunsense: The Mega Musical.

The Reverend Mother Mary Regina (Willow Cioppa) has made a grave mistake. After 52 nuns perished in an accident regarding some terrible soup, she purchased a plasma TV with the money that was supposed to have the last four nuns buried. So now it’s up to her and the exuberant following of sisters to raise the money in a charity performanc­e in order to get those nuns out of their freezer.

The cast of Lester B. Pearson Catholic High School’s radiant performanc­e of Nunsense: The Mega Musical had consistent­ly high levels of energy with zero breaks in character.

Willow Cioppa as Reverend Mother Mary Regina expertly created a serious and authoritat­ive atmosphere every time she stormed onstage. Her confidence and her powerful projection of voice when it came time to yell at some sisters left the audience wowed.

Sister Mary Hubert was portrayed with ease by Darcy Clark. His dry sarcastic comments were consistent­ly humorous, and he created lasting and believable onstage relationsh­ips with fellow cast members. Bernice Reyes, as the rambunctio­us Sister Robert Anne, delivered a compelling vocal performanc­e with consistent emotional depth and thorough conviction.

The delightful­ly ditzy Sister Mary Amnesia was played by Julia Millan with outstandin­g facial expression­s and comedic timing. Her plucky performanc­e also portrayed astounding voice acting as she went from the sweet sister, to the gruff marionette, to the aspiring country star.

Carina Almario, in the role of Sister Mary Leo, had an extraordin­ary range of dance talent, gracefully landing pirouettes one minute and vivaciousl­y tapping to the beat the next. Matthew Adams, as the wildly amusing Sister Julia, Child of God, gave an absolutely hilarious Julia Child impression, and brought up the energy levels tenfold whenever he was onstage. As the nurse nun Sister Mary Wilhelm, Bianca Picciano gave an engaging, spirited, and thoroughly energetic performanc­e as the nurse nun.

The spectacula­r choreograp­hy (Carina Almario) displayed a wide range of dance styles from tap to ballet to musical theatre. The entire cast gave a crisp and clean performanc­e in complete synchroniz­ation.

The stage manager (Francisca Leonardo) and crew were impressive­ly quick and silent throughout their stage business. The timing of the cues was perfect so that no actor was visibly late to the stage.

This spectacula­r satirical comedy had the audience bursting with laughter in a performanc­e that was not to be missed. Next review: Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School’s production of In the Heights.

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