BROADFORD Amateur Theatrical Society, BATS, has been busy preparing for its upcoming production of ‘Nunsense’, set to hit the stage in the coming months.
BATS is a not-for-profit theatre group based in Broadford, whose most recent showcase of ‘Mamma Mia’ featured an all-Mitchell Shire-based cast and crew, and saw seven sold-out performances.
Nunsense is BATS’ most recent undertaking, following ‘The Buddy Holly Show’ being pulled from production shortly after auditions concluded earlier this year.
“We didn’t think it was the right time to do Buddy. It’s not that we’re not doing it, it’s just that Broadford is not ready at this stage,” BATS director Shaun Geerlings-Parker said.
When Buddy Holly came to a premature end, Nunsense – a musical comedy featuring tap numbers, kick lines, an audience quiz, comic surprises and over 200 lighting cues – was ‘standing in the wings’, offering the BATS a great opportunity to snatch up.
“Within a couple of weeks, we redid auditions, we cast Nunsense and we’re now in the middle of rehearsals,” Mr Geerlings-Parker said.
“Nunsense is about these five nuns doing a fundraiser concert, trying to raise money to bury nuns that have died in the convent – their cook had made a soup and pretty much killed 54 of the nuns.“
Nunsense’s five roles were announced early last month – Janice Kemp is set to play Mother Superior, Julie Tennant is Sister Mary Hubert, Sherie Mills is Sister Robert Anne, Alicia Biancon is Sister Mary Amnesia and Faith Anderson is Sister Mary Leo.
“There’s only five people in the show, so it was a real tough decision. We could have cast the show four times,” Mr Geerlings-Parker said.
“We’ve actually got a mother and daughter [Ms Tennant and Ms Mills] and a grandmother and granddaughter [Ms Kemp and Ms Anderson] in the show.
Ms Kemp was taking her granddaughter to auditions when she was asked by the panel to try-out herself.
“She hadn’t prepared anything but she auditioned for the show and she was cast as a lead role,” Mr Geerlings-Parker said.
Preparations for opening night began with three-and-a-half weeks of music rehearsals led by BATS musical director Julie Wales.
The cast is now under the direction of Mr Geerlings-Parker, who said they were ‘moving really quickly’ and on course to have the show audience-ready within two weeks.
Nunsense is scheduled to hit the stage for opening night in the coming months.
“There’s five nuns on stage putting on a show – it’s not something you see every day,” Mr Geerlings-Parker said.
Tickets will go on sale soon, to be made available via the BATS Facebook page.
BATS is also offering $100 sponsorship packages for businesses to purchase in support of the show, which include tickets to the production and advertisement on BATS’ Facebook page and in the show’s programme.
Any local businesses interested can get in contact with Mr Geerlings-Parker via the BATS Facebook page.
