Nunsense

A musical comedy in 2 acts sung in Lithuanian

Libretto and song lyrics by Dan Goggin
Libretto and song lyrics translated from the English by Vytautas Virganavičius Jr.

A disaster strikes the convent of Little Sisters of Hoboken: a tainted vichyssoise cooked by Sister Julia, Child of God, Julia, poisoned and killed almost all the sisters. The surviving nuns decide to stage a variety show and raise money for the burials of the deceased sisters. Participating in the project are Mother Superior Mary Regina, a former circus performer who cannot resist the spotlight; her competitive but dignified rival, second-in-command Sister Mary Hubert; Sister Robert Anne, a streetwise nun from Brooklyn; Sister Mary Leo, a novice who is determined to be the world’s first ballerina nun; and wacky, childlike Sister Mary Amnesia, who lost her memory when a crucifix fell on her head. The entertainment they present include solo star turns, madcap dance routines, and an audience quiz, sparkling with uninhibited fun and biting wit!

Nunsense is a musical comedy about the life of nuns written, composed and directed by Dan Goggin. He was no stranger to convent jokes, since he was schooled by Dominican nuns and later even entered a seminary. No wonder all the characters in the musical had real-life prototypes. He conceived a line of greeting cards featuring a nun offering tart quips with a clerical slant, which caught on so quickly that Goggin decided to expand it into a cabaret show and later into a musical. The original off-Broadway production premiered in 1985, running for 3,672 performances and becoming second-longest-running off-Broadway show in history. It was translated into at least 26 languages with more than 8,000 productions worldwide. In 2015, it received its first Lithuanian-language production at the Klaipėda State Music Theatre, where it was staged by American-Lithuanian director, choreographer, actor and singer John Staniunas.