Woodbridge's first ever fall musical is `Nunsense'

Byline: PEGGY BLIZZARD
(OC Register - December 4, 2003)

It's a first for Woodbridge High School.

It's a fall musical.

And for this first Woodbridge is starting out small, not in talent but in size.

It's ``Nunsense,'' which opened Wednesday and continues tonight and Friday.

``We decided for the first time, we would try a small musical to give the kids the experience of working in a small cast,'' said Joslynne Blasdel, head of the instrumental music program at Woodbridge High. ``The kids can see what a small show is like where there is not an ensemble. It's all about them.''

The hilarious story features five nuns who are the only ones left alive after 52 died from poisoned soup made by the cook. But they could only afford to bury 48 of the 52 because the Mother Superior bought a DVD player with the money she thought was left over. Now the remaining nuns have to put on a talent show to raise funds to bury the four nuns who are in the freezer.

Rob Blaney who serves as piano accompanist and musical director for the Woodbridge High spring musicals, is back and playing in an on-stage combo with Lorne Ahmed on drums and Calisa Hildebrand on flute, saxophone and clarinet. Hildebrand, a Woodbridge High graduate, and a music major at Cal State Long Beach, ``is a walk-on coach for me here,'' said Blasdel.

Mic Shackleford, who teaches at Concordia University, is directing the show.

``It's always nice to get a new director in front of the kids so they can get a different perspective and new ways to do things,'' said Blasdel. ``The kids are doing a terrific job. It's one of the strongest casts we have had, both acting and vocally.''

The cast members are seniors Bridget Cohen, Samantha Smith and Jessica Merel and juniors Lynn Lyster and Nori Powojski.

Cohen plays Sister Amnesia. ``What happened to her is a crucifix fell on her head and she does not remember anything about her life,'' said Cohen. ``She's like a 6- or 7-year-old child, innocent, naive, always forgetting things. It's a really fun character to play.

``But the singing is a challenge for me. It's the first time doing a soprano role. I've always belted out songs before. There are a lot of octave jumps. I'm actually a ventriloquist at one point in the show, well I'm supposed to be, but I'm not very good at it (in the role of Sister Amnesia).''

The ventriloquist's dummy is supposed to be part of Sister Amnesia's split personality, Sister Marionette, she said. ``The high-pitch voice is back again,'' added Cohen who used that voice as Audrey last year in the spring musical, ``Little Shop of Horrors'' but with a New York accent, which is gone this time.

Smith is Mother Superior in the show. ``She's the head of the convent and the leader of the five in the show,'' said Smith. ``She's supposed to be sort of gentle but firm, very lovable but at the same time she has to be able to take a stand and enforce the rules. She takes her position very seriously but she also breaks the rules once in a while.''

The major challenge, said Smith, is that the role must be played older ``because she has to be wise.''

Among Smith's solos in the show is ``Turn Up the Spotlight'' ``which is sort of about her inner desire to be on stage.''

Merel plays Sister Hubert. ``She's the mistress of novices. She's gentle but firm. She has a healthy rivalry with the Mother Superior. I think she tries to be very hard and strict but she also knows how to kick up her heels and have a good time. For me this is the first time I've had a real acting role so it's a terrific learning experience for me,'' said Merel who was one of the Doo-Wop Girls in ``Little Shop of Horrors'' which she calls more of a narrator than an acting role.

Added Merel, ``The character is usually played by a black woman so I have to take on those characteristics. I try to have more rhythm than I naturally do. This is the first time I've ever put tap shoes on,'' noted Merel who is in a tap number choreographed by Rennetta Lehman from Concordia University.

Merel also has a rocking gospel-style number, ``Holier Than Thou'' which she says ``is really a lot of fun.''

Lyster is Sister Robert Ann.'' ``She's kind of the rebel nun,'' said Lyster. ``She grew up in Brooklyn and was sent to Catholic School in seventh grade because she was always getting in trouble. She's the favorite of the kids because she speaks their language. She knows how to interact with them. She gets into trouble with the Reverend Mother playing tricks and joking around. She tries to kind of corrupt one of the novice nuns'' by having her do ``The Dying Nun,'' a take off of the dying swan in ``Swan Lake'' but as a depiction of how the nuns died from the poisoned soup to the Mother Superior's horror. ``But she always means well.''

One of Lyster's solos is ``I just Want to be a Star.''

``She is the understudy but wants to be in the spotlight and gets to have her moment at the end.''

But the greatest fun is being in all the group numbers, said Lyster. Her favorite is ``Clean Out the Freezer,'' the tap number in which the nuns have been ordered by the health inspector to take the four dead nuns out of the freezer.

Powojski, who plays Sister Leo, said her favorite number is also ``Clean Out the Freezer.''

``It's been easy, she said of her role, because I've taken dance for many rears. I play the ballerina nun who is actually the novice nun. She comes to the convent but still dances around or as she says, `dances through her morning prayers.'''

The character, said Powojski is influenced by the others. ``I'll go along with whomever.''

But, she added, ``I'm fun, smiling, the casting is pretty much what I am. I'm also learning a lot from the other nuns in both character and for real. They are amazing, the other girls I'm with''.


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