'Sisters' of song take their show on the road

Philip Drama Group stages roving musical

By Andrea J. Cook, Journal staff | Saturday, June 07, 2008

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An unusual troupe of "showgirls" takes its act on the road Saturday, June 7, when the Philip Drama Group moves cast, sets and song to Kadoka for a performance of Dan Goggin's "Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue."

The drama group planned two benefit performances over the four-day run of the musical based from a series of Goggin's plays tracking the fictional antics of the "Little Sisters of Hoboken," an odd collection of Catholic nuns in New Jersey.

The play opened Thursday at the Fine Arts Center at Philip High School. Performances continue tonight at 7 p.m. in the Kadoka Auditorium and conclude at 3 p.m. Sunday back in Philip.

Just as the five merry sisters -- along with a life-size puppet -- venture to Las Vegas to raise money for their school, the drama group hopes their musical sisters' benefit performances in Kadoka and Philip will generate dollars for two worthy causes. Both shows are billed as "dessert theaters," with local cooks serving the audience tempting homemade treats during intermission.

In Kadoka, donations will benefit Kadoka Care Center. The community owned nonprofit long-term care facility is home to 26 residents, according to the center's chief operating officer, Ruby Sanftner.

"We're trying to do improvements to our building that's about 50 years old," Sanftner said.

In recent years, the community has helped raised $75,000 to replace the buildings' roof. About three-fourths of the windows in the center have been replaced, but there is still a need for new doors and more windows, Sanftner said.

"And, we'd like to do the cement-block walls in the hallways, drop the ceilings and add new lighting," she said.

There is always something that needs fixing, and the community is always ready to support the center, Sanftner said.

The same goes for Philip, where proceeds from Sunday's matinee will go to the Philip Health Services Hospital Auxiliary. Tickets for theater and tasty treats are $10.

Picking up and moving a production that relies on array of glittering "Las Vegas Revue" costumes, all worn over conservative black habits, is a bit of a chore, but one gladly undertaken by the cast and stage crew, according to show production manager Nancy Ekstrum.

Ekstrum, a former Philip mayor, likes the idea of the two communities coming together and helping each other out. "It transcends boundaries," she said.

Philip Health Services manages the medical clinic in Kadoka, which has forged a common link between the two communities, according to Sanftner.

"We work together on a lot of different things," she said. "We both need each other."

For this portable production, local songbirds Barb Bowen, Maureen Palacek, Deb Smith and Carmen Fees revive familiar, zany characters from two previous "Nunsense" musicals. Joining them on stage are Cindy Nuzun and Anita Peterson.

"These girls are just too talented not to be seen," co-director Marcy Ramsey said.

If you go

Philip Drama Group's production of "Nunsensations! The Nunsense Vegas Revue"

* 7 p.m. Saturday, June 7, Kadoka City Auditorium; admission by donation (includes at dessert theater)

* 3 p.m. Sunday, June 8, Philip Fine Arts Building; All seats are reserved, and admission is $10, including the dessert theater. Tickets are available at the door or by calling Whistle Hill Flowers at 859-3110.