Catechism

Local theatergoers looking for something to do on a Monday night can rest easily. Catechism classes are open once more. That's "Late Nite Catechism 2," the dark-night entertainment that's been offered at the Laguna Playhouse for the past few years. The current offering is a sequel of sorts to the original "Late Nite Catechism," which opened in the fall of 2003 and has kept on going and going, somewhat like the Energizer Bunny. And, for those whose Monday nights are filled with other activities, Sister will be available for instruction on selected Sunday evenings as well.

Tom Titus It's not out of the realm of possibility that, within the next few months, you'll be reading an ad for a show that's "in its second year at the Laguna Playhouse." True, the theater's regular productions are carefully scheduled for a pre-set number of weeks, then depart to make room for the next attraction. But if you're a "dark night" show, performing only Monday evenings, it's an open-ended engagement. Back in September, when the playhouse was opening its 2003-04 season with a revival of the comedy "Harvey," directors penciled in a one-woman show entitled "Late Nite Catechism" to fill the Monday night slots.

Tom Titus When a show proves extremely popular at the Laguna Playhouse, holding it over is not among the theater's options. The show must vacate the premises so that the next scheduled production may move in. That is, unless the show is occupying the theater only on Mondays -- "dark nights" for the playhouse, which showcases its regularly scheduled fare Tuesdays through Sundays. If a dark night show is a big hit, it conceivably could run forever. Which is precisely what "Late Nite Catechism" seems to be doing.

Tom Titus They're lining up to take "Late Nite Catechism" at the Laguna Playhouse every Monday night, so the hilarious exercise in religion classes with a comic twist has been extended through early October. It's not difficult to see why. The one-woman show by Vicki Quade and Marypat Donovan has filled the pews -- er, seats -- every Monday night while the cast of the summer show "Harvey" takes a well-earned respite. The production, originally headlined by Donovan herself, but now featuring other actresses alternating in the sister's role, offers the audience a chance to get into the act -- whether they want to or not. "Sister" will aim her satirical barbs at underdressed women, public displays of affection and anyone unfortunate enough to require a bathroom break while "class" is in session.

TOM TITUS Much like the Energizer bunny, "Late Nite Catechism" just keeps going and going at the Laguna Playhouse on Monday nights. Playhouse executive director Richard Stein has announced yet another holdover -- the 12th to date -- of the one-nun stand-up comedy production, which has held forth at the theater since July 21, 2003. The current "closing date" now is listed as March 14. For those of you keeping score, the popular interactive theater presentation has played 58 times since then and has been seen by more than 19,000 theatergoers -- many of them undoubtedly coming back for seconds, or thirds.

Tom Titus The way things are going, the Laguna Playhouse probably should have scheduled its "dark night" production of "Late Nite Catechism" as a regular entry on the production schedule. Back in September, the theater brought the hilarious piece of nunsense (sorry, that's another show) in to fill in the week's empty space on Monday nights when the "Harvey" cast took a breather. The one-woman show seemed perfect as a dark night filler, but word got around quickly that this was an attraction not to be missed.

Artists join up for holiday sale A group of 10 local artists will host a ?From Pearls to Paint? Thanksgiving weekend holiday sale at the Bridge Hall in Congregational Church, at the corner of Saint Anns Drive and Glenneyre Street. Fine art, photography, jewelry and handmade crafts will be among the items featured. The sale will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 23 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 24. For more information, call (949) 494-6220 or e-mail pcoop@cox.net. Catechism returns for Christmas run The Laguna Playhouse brings back the hit comedy ?

Tom Titus Leave it to the Laguna Playhouse to come up with new and different plays that the majority of its audience is entirely unacquainted with. The current season at the playhouse is replete with unfamiliar titles, and the lone remaining slot finally has been filled with another one. It's Charles Busch's "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" ticketed for the May 28 to June 26 slot. Oh, and "Late Nite Catechism" might be around still.

The art of improvisational comedy is one of the trickiest forms of showmanship, and performing it solo certainly increases the degree of difficulty, but for Maripat Donovan it’s just another day in the classroom. Donovan dons a nun’s habit and performs her unscripted, audience-participatory evening of entertainment entitled “Late Nite Catechism,” and she’s done three versions of it previously on the stage of the Laguna Playhouse. Now she’s back for a fourth, and this time she’s targeting couples.

Tom Titus "Dark nights" at the Laguna Playhouse during the run of "Harvey" next month will refer only to dark humor. Beginning July 21, and continuing through Aug. 25, the playhouse will fill its Monday evenings with the Orange County premiere of "Late Nite Catechism," the comedic one-woman show by Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan. The solo two-acter will feature Donovan, co-author and the original "Sister," for the first three Monday performances.

The art of improvisational comedy is one of the trickiest forms of showmanship, and performing it solo certainly increases the degree of difficulty, but for Maripat Donovan it’s just another day in the classroom. Donovan dons a nun’s habit and performs her unscripted, audience-participatory evening of entertainment entitled “Late Nite Catechism,” and she’s done three versions of it previously on the stage of the Laguna Playhouse. Now she’s back for a fourth, and this time she’s targeting couples.

She convulsed Laguna Playhouse audiences each Monday night for a few years, then made Christmas merrier for a few more. And she’s not finished with us yet. Maripat Donovan has been signed to premiere her one- woman show, “Till Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3,” at the playhouse from March 31 to May 3 next year. Donovan’s comedic creations— “Late Nite Catechism,” “Late Nite Catechism 2” and “Sister’s Christmas Catechism” — all have entertained playhouse audiences in the past.

Artists join up for holiday sale A group of 10 local artists will host a ?From Pearls to Paint? Thanksgiving weekend holiday sale at the Bridge Hall in Congregational Church, at the corner of Saint Anns Drive and Glenneyre Street. Fine art, photography, jewelry and handmade crafts will be among the items featured. The sale will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 23 and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Nov. 24. For more information, call (949) 494-6220 or e-mail pcoop@cox.net. Catechism returns for Christmas run The Laguna Playhouse brings back the hit comedy ?

All good things, they say, must come to an end, and the Laguna Playhouse has posted the closing notice for its dark night productions of "Late Nite Catechism" and its sequel, "Late Nite Catechism 2." When this one-nun exercise in improvisational comedy finally winds up Oct. 23 it will have wrapped up a three-year engagement of Sunday and Monday evenings in its various forms. "Late Nite Catechism," created in 1993 by Vicki Quade and Marypat Donovan, has "instructed" classes of playgoers all over the world.

Local theatergoers looking for something to do on a Monday night can rest easily. Catechism classes are open once more. That's "Late Nite Catechism 2," the dark-night entertainment that's been offered at the Laguna Playhouse for the past few years. The current offering is a sequel of sorts to the original "Late Nite Catechism," which opened in the fall of 2003 and has kept on going and going, somewhat like the Energizer Bunny. And, for those whose Monday nights are filled with other activities, Sister will be available for instruction on selected Sunday evenings as well.

If you've seen the first two installments of "Late Nite Catechism" at the Laguna Playhouse and think you've been exposed to interactive theater -- well, as Al Jolson used to say, you ain't seen nothing yet. "Sister's Christmas Catechism," subtitled "The Mystery of the Magi's Gold," is the latest, and by far the most entertaining, of the triumvirate written by (and often featuring) Marypat Donovan. The one-woman show conducted by a rather stern nun has been convulsing Monday night audiences in Laguna over the past three seasons.

The Christmas story has been approached from myriad perspectives by playwrights and storytellers the world over. But the Laguna Playhouse is about to tackle a yuletide question that's been puzzling historians over the ages: Whatever happened to the magi's gold? From the people who brought you "Late Nite Catechism" and its currently running sequel comes a special Christmas-themed performance, opening Monday at the playhouse and playing through Dec. 23. "Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold" promises more of the same sort of ballistic nun humor that marked the first two long-running episodes on the theater's dark nights -- only this "lesson" is focused on the gold coins left to Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus in that stable 2,005 years ago. The setting, as usual, will be a church auditorium, this time replete with Christmas decorations.

TOM TITUS Ask anyone who has survived a Catholic school education and he or she probably will tell you that it wasn't much fun. Reliving that experience, however, by attending a performance of "Late Nite Catechism" would be quite a bit of fun. The dark night production that kept Laguna Playhouse audiences chuckling for two seasons finally has run its course. But, just when you thought it was safe to go back into the classroom, here comes "Late Nite Catechism II" or "Sometimes We Feel Guilty Because We ARE Guilty."

Tom Titus Maripat Donovan has a pretty big pair of shoes to fill at the Laguna Playhouse -- her own. Donovan is the creator and co-author of a one-nun evening of clerical comedy entitled "Late Nite Catechism." For the past two years, it's been a staple on Monday evenings at the playhouse, only recently ending its lengthy engagement. During its nearly every-Monday run, "Late Nite Catechism" played to more than 24,000 theatergoers in Laguna. The show consists of Donovan (or one of her cohorts)

TOM TITUS Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the classroom ... "Late Nite Catechism," a "dark night" fill-in that caught on with audiences and ran for almost two years at the Laguna Playhouse, finally will be departing with a closing performance June 20, but don't think you've completely escaped the Sister's caustic comments. There's going to be a sequel. "Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold" is ticketed for a late-year engagement from Nov. 21 through Dec. 23 at the playhouse, and it's described as "CSI Meets Bethlehem."