Nunsense
according to Dan Goggin
In 1981, a Dominican Brother friend of mine gave me a
mannequin dressed as a Dominican nun. With a couple
friends, I decided to make some greeting cards with her
and discovered audiences loved my sense of humor.
This led to the “first” version of
Nunsense
for which I wrote music and lyrics
and my friend Steve Hayes contributed sketches. We opened at the Duplex
in New York’s Greenwich Village in 1983 and ran for 38 weeks. We felt we
really had a winner and wanted to move the show, but producers felt the
sketches didn’t work.
I decided to take a crack at developing the characters more and creating a
full musical. After some interim workshop productions, the show opened
off-Broadway in 1985. As its popularity grew more and more, “sit-down”
productions were opening around the country, and then around the world.
Producers began asking for a sequel and when
Nunsense 2
became a hit it
seemed that the Little Sisters of Hoboken had become favorites of audiences
everywhere. People wanted more adventures, and as long as they were
laughing I was thrilled to be writing.
There are now seven full musicals, as well as
Sister Robert Anne’s Cabaret
Class
and
Nunsense A-Men!
– the all-male version of the original. It is now
estimated that there have been over 10,000 productions of the shows done
around the world in more than 20 languages.
Putting together this 30th anniversary production of the original show,
with my great friend, director Matt Lenz, our choreographer Teri Gibson,
musical director Michael Horsley and the incredible Muny staff along with
one of the most powerful and definitely largest casts ever assembled is more
than anything I ever dreamed of.
I will be eternally grateful to Mike Isaacson for
inviting us to The Muny. I hope you have as
much fun watching this phenomenal group of
performers as we have had bringing it to you.
SUMMER PROGRAM 2013
43
writer of
Nunsense The Musical
