'Catechism' creator brings 'Bible Bingo' to COD

Vicki Quade, creator of the comedy "Late Nite Catechism," this weekend brings her new, interactive, one-woman comedy, "Bible Bingo: An Act of Charity … in Two Acts," to the College of DuPage.

Performances are at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 7, and 3 p.m. Sunday, May 8, at the McAninch Arts Center's Playhouse Theatre on campus, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn.

Mrs. Mary Margaret O'Brien, a former nun (portrayed for this engagement by Quade herself) leads the Archdiocese's new fundraising department using bingo to help generate funds for a parish in need of money.

What follows is a combination of Bible trivia, audience interaction, improvised moments, a quiz about the Holy Family, a lot of Catholic humor and, of course, bingo.

Each audience member gets a bingo card and, before the games begin, is tutored in "Ten Commandments of Bingo." A volunteer helper is selected from the audience, asked to shuffle a deck of bingo cards and pick prizes, and then the fun begins.

Quade has written and produced a wealth of theater in Chicago, including comedies, musicals, improv and magic. She is best known for co-creating the one-woman show "Late Nite Catechism," which opened in 1993 in Chicago and holds the record for the longest running religious comedy in the city's history.

She also created four other religious comedies: "Put the Nuns in Charge!," "Sunday School Cinema," "Saints and Sinners," and her holiday show, "Mother Superior's Ho-Ho-Holy Night."

In 2011, Quade started a line of bingo shows, including "Bible Bingo," "Christmas Bingo," "Movie Bingo," "Convent Bingo" and "Saints and Sinners Bingo."

As audiences leave the shows, there is customarily an opportunity for them to put a dollar or two into the hat. Collected proceeds go to benefit local religious orders. Since the inception of "Late Night Catechism" in 1993, Quade's Nuns4Fun empire has raised more than $3 million for retiring nuns throughout the Chicago area.

Tickets to "Bible Bingo" are $38 to $45. For information, call (630) 942-4000 or visit atthemac.org.