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Saturday, 20 November, 2010 10:45 PM

'Sister's Christmas Catechism' is a big hit at the Century Theatre

Photo credit: www.gemtheatre.com Mary Zentmyer plays Sister in Sister's Christmas Catechism at the historic Century Theatre in downtown Detroit.

by Gloria Rzucidlo gloria1025@yahoo.com

DETROIT -- The Sister's Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi's Gold is playing at the Century Theatre in downtown Detroit from November 17 through December 31, 2010.

Sister (Mary Zentmyer) returns on the success of Late Night Catechism, but in the Christmas version. The set is of a parochial school classroom as the nun walks into class and insists that the audience stands to greet her with "Good morning, Sister." She treats the audience as her students. Students raise their hand to be called on and gets punishments for giving wrong answers or, for example, chewing gum in class.

The nun runs the classroom with a firm hand expecting obedience and proper manners while rewarding them with little Catholic trinkets when students answer questions correctly.

She reads the story of Mary and the birth of Jesus and quizzes the class on their knowledge.

After she reads the story, she chooses audience members to participate in a live nativity scene on stage. She dresses them in improvised costumes as the
audience ooohed and aaahed at the result. She applies forensic science techniques from her favorite TV show, CSI, to figure out who stole the gold
coins that the Magi brought to baby Jesus. She points out that we know what happened to the frankincense and myrrh--they were used as potpourri in the barn. Two of the shepherds brought boxes of Whitman's chocolates to baby Jesus.

There was also a small choir singing christmas songs to enhance the Christmas spirit.

The show lasted two hours including a 15-minute break in between. I thought that this show was the funniest show i had ever seen. Everyone laughed from
beginning to end. Your cheeks will hurt from laughter. If you get a chance to see it, I would.

Tickets run from $27.50 to $32.50 at the Gem Theatre box office or Ticketmaster.com.

OVERALL RATING: A+

 

Photo credit: www.flickr.com

The Century Theatre is located inside The Gem at 333 Madison St. in downtown Detroit.