The Kunkels (the poor family that lives behind Mount St. Helen's School) have won the lottery. Although they had given their lottery ticket to the Sisters in exchange for some gifts, when it was discovered that the ticket was a winner, the sisters returned it to the Kunkels. In appreciation the Kunkels have given the Sisters an all-expense-paid trip on the "Faiths of All Nations" Cruise. After a week at sea the ship runs into a storm and several people become ill, including all the entertainers: the cast of Fiddler On The Roof. All except the actor playing Tevye, that is. The captain of the ship, knowing of the Sisters' show biz savvy, requests that the Sisters and Tevye put on a revue.I like Tevye. And I thought that however ridiculous "Sister Act" was, it had some funny moments. I get it that once "Nunsense" made money, more would follow, and I recognise that the ethnic edge of Jewish humor and Catholic humor are American standards. (Black humor tends to play off WASPs or fly solo.) But this extension of "Well we can still put on a show, darn it!" is just insane. Stop the madness. You will drive people back to thinking that Eugene O'Neill and Tennessee Williams are Significant - and then where will we be?
Monday, June 11, 2012
Meshuggah'Nuns
Musical theater gone bad. It has depended on ridiculous premises since Gilbert & Sullivan, but this has to set some kind of record.
Come to think of it, I've never seen/read anything by Eugene O'Neil. Will I be a better person for doing so?
ReplyDeleteI confess: I think I'm the target audience of this set-up for a movie. Your description made it sound more interesting than half the last 20 new releases I've read about.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the first 2 Nunsense plays and enjoyed them. Gene and that Tenne guy--man, they're downers.
ReplyDeleteJames, reading about any two of his plays should be enough. I would suggest the early "The Hairy Ape," and the later, severely autobiographical "Long Day's Journey Into Night." The wikis will tell you enough.
ReplyDeleteSounds vaguely like a Muppet movie plot . . .
ReplyDeleteWe have just one little theater here, with 4 screens. I noticed that this week's shows are all science fiction or fantasy: Prometheus, Men in Black 3, Snow White & the Huntsman, and Madagascar.
ReplyDeleteWow, that is stunning. Picture all the reading and creating you could do this... Cool during the cold months even though.
ReplyDelete