Sister reclaims laughter in sold-out River Campus show

Although holiday spirit filled a packed Bedell Performance Hall on Sunday night, no one was safe from one devout nun's jabs.

For a second straight year, actress Kim Richards reprised her role of Sister, a nun who frequently involves the audience in her stern yet hilarious monologues. Richards came to the 950-seat venue last November and performed "Late Night Catechism," which was met with immense laughter and cheer.

Sunday night, Richards reclaimed last year's laughter with the holiday-themed "Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold."

Before the sold-out show, people settled into their seats and sang Christmas carols like "Here Comes Santa Claus" and "Jingle Bells." When Sister abruptly took the stage during a verse of "Jingle Bells," she didn't like what she heard.

"Let's get Jesus in that sleigh," she said, amid laughter.

The audience, led by an onstage singer and piano player, quickly amended the song to include Jesus' name. Once Sister deemed the song religiously correct, she began to tear into audience members by confiscating chewing gum and charging late audience members a dollar for not being punctual.

"You're late to class," Sister told the latecomers, accepting no excuse.

Sister seemed somewhat lenient to the audience members who arrived late, especially when compared to the man caught texting while she was talking. When confronted, the man tried to hide his phone under a program. Sister noticed what he had done and confiscated the phone, drawing a loud applause from the crowd.

"You can check your messages in hell," she told the man as she put the phone in a drawer in her onstage desk.

Sister's antics evoked memories of Catholic school for audience member Georgia Howe, who bought her tickets for the show when they became available in June. Howe said she enjoyed last year's show so much that she jumped at the chance to see Sister again.

Howe, who attended Notre Dame Regional High School, said that anyone who attended Catholic school when nuns were still prominent would enjoy the show.

"It's just your typical old school classroom," she said.

Howe was so tickled with last year's show that she persuaded friend Annie Evans to go. Evans said before the show she had read many good things about the show and couldn't wait to reminisce about Catholic school.

Howe told Evans that Sister wouldn't disappoint.

"It's just like the Notre Dame nuns," Howe said. "When Sister's up on stage, you can just hear and see them again."

psullivan@semissourian.com

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