Put the word "Christmas" in the title of any show, and it's sure to attract a crowd in December. A perfect example is Sister's Christmas Catechism, written by the same author who penned the popular Late Nite Catechism and its sequel, Late Nite Catechism 2. All three shows rely heavily on audience participation. As always, the setting is a classroom, where a sometimes-outrageous Catholic nun addresses the audience as her "students."
The third part of this trilogy opened December 1, 2009 at Milwaukee's Vogel Hall, located in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts.
On a Tuesday night, a sparse crowd was not in the mood to be humiliated by Diana Carl Alioto (the nun). One could only feel sorry for Alioto as one would feel for a stand-up comic whose monologue falls flat. The material is far better in the evening's first half, in which the sister trades quips with the audience. (Heaven help an audience member whose first name isn't found in the Bible.) Alioto is a seasoned stage performer whose ad libs provide many of the evening's biggest laughs. And in terms of her knowledge of the names of saints, martyrs and biblical characters, she gets straight A's. But despite her upbeat demeanor, Alioto struggled to get people onstage, even when she offered them candy.
The second act is an interminable recreation of the Nativity. First, the cast (members of the audience) is dressed in a goofy array of clothing, bathroom rugs and curtains that parents have donated to the school's rummage sale, Then, the Sister uses forensic techniques (that she learned from TV crime shows) to determine what happened to the gold given to the Holy Family by the Three Wise Men. This tiresome plot continues far too long. By the time the Sister deduces the "culprit," the audience has long since stopped caring about this who-dun-it. Alioto is a trouper who forges ahead despite the audience's audible impatience and unwillingness to participate. It's a shame she didn't have better material to work with. If Alioto had had a bigger crowd and a more appropriate opening night (such as Friday or Saturday), the show could have really rocked.
