Nunsense: 25th anniversary revival at Cherry Lane Theatre

The comedy musical Nunsense, by Dan Goggin, will celebrate its silver birthday this summer with a 25th anniversary production presented by the Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre where the musical comedy about the Little Sister of Hoboken debuted Off-Broadway in 1985.

The 25th anniversary revival will open at Cherry Lane Theatre on 22 Jun 2010, following previews from 15 Jun and run through to 18 Jul 2010. The announcement was made by Angelina Fiordellisi, Artistic Director of Cherry Lane Theatre and herself a former member of the cast of Nunsense in 1987.

The Cherry Lane revival of Nunsense follows the upcoming release on 27 Apr 2010 of a DVD recording of "Meshuggah-Nuns!," a musical celebration of both Catholic and Jewish traditions, and one of several musical spinoffs from the original musical Nunsense. As well, the anniversary revival and DVD release coincide with the opening at theatres across the U.S. of the newest Nunsense spinoff, the musical "Sister Robert Anne's Cabaret Class," and a production of "Nunset Boulevard," currently playing at the Chanhansen Theatre in Minneapolis.

An instant hit when Dan Goggin wrote, directed and produced the musical 25 years ago, Nunsense follows the escapades of five nuns from the Little Sisters of Hoboken who realize that one of their own, Sister Julia, Child of God, has accidentally poisoned to death 52 fellow nuns in the convent while the quintet was off playing Bingo.

The show's musical numbers include "Nunsense is Habit-Forming," "So You Want to be a Nun," "The Dying Nun Ballet," "Baking with the BVM" and "Holier Than Thou."

Directed by Dan Goggin, who wrote the music and lyrics to Nunsense, the cast of the Cherry Lane Revival of Nunsense is to be announced.

Nunsense has been a vehicle for an endless array of actresses through the years, including such well-known actresses as Rue McClanahan, Edie Adams, Phyllis Diller, Sally Struthers, JoAnne Worley, Kaye Ballard, Georgia Engel and Darlene Love.

Since its debut as a cabaret show in Greenwich Village and its transfer Off-Broadway to the Cherry Lane Theatre in 1985, the musical Nunsense has been presented the world over with 8,000 productions (and counting), and has grossed more than $500 million.

Dan Goggin came to New York from Alma, Michigan to study as a singer. He sang in the Broadway production of 'Luther' starring Albert Finney. He began writing, while appearing in a comic folk-duo called 'The Saxons.' The first show he wrote the music for was 'Hark.' In 1986 Goggin received the Outer Critics' Circle Awards given to Nunsense for Best Musical, Best Book, and Best Music. Nunsense, in addition to running 10 years in New York City, has now run in thousands of theatres around the world. There have been over 30,000 "nuns" in the Nunsense family.

The Cherry Lane Theatre revival of Nunsense is part of the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre company's "Heritage Series," which brings back to the Cherry Lane 174-seat mainstage gems from the theatre's rich 86-year history. As New York's longest, continuously-running Off-Broadway theater, Cherry Lane Theatre is known as "the birthplace of Off-Broadway."