Struthers, 'Nunsense' coming to Paramount
Life in a kooky convent is a breeze compared to life on the road for Sally Struthers, star of the 25th anniversary national touring company production of "Nunsense."
"We do a new theater and town every night," said Struthers, as her tour bus rumbled across mountain highways en route from Johnstown, Pa., to Toledo, Ohio.
The bus makes a stop for two shows Saturday, Nov. 8, at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora.
"It's exciting having Sally here," said Diana Martinez, Paramount's executive director.
Martinez said the 1,888-seat theater, a converted 1931 movie house, offers excellent acoustics, unobstructed views and a recently renovated lobby.
Struthers, who won two Emmys for her role as Gloria Stivic on TV's "All in the Family" and more recently appeared as Babette for seven seasons of "Gilmore Girls," is no stranger to the rigors of the road or to the joys of appearing on stage.
"I've already done tours. I was out for three years with the musical 'Grease,' and two years with 'Annie,'" she said. "The only joy of our day is getting on stage every night."
The "Nunsense" tour began in September and runs through January.
Struthers said she was persuaded to take on the challenge of touring in the Mother Superior role by the show's writer and director.
"Danny Goggin, the author of 'Nunsense,' wore me down. He's been after me for years to do this," she said.
Struthers plays the authority figure to the Little Sisters of Hoboken, who are busy burying their brethren, accidentally poisoned by the convent cook, a circumstance that makes for fun, humor and a bit of dark comedy. The sisters decide to put on a show to raise burial funds.
"That's my saving grace, how much fun this show is. For us to perform it, it's really fun. It's a two-hour-long variety show with all of us wearing nuns' habits. That's what I look forward to at the end of the day," Struthers said. "Hearing that laughter at the end of the night gets me higher than a kite."
Raised in Portland, Ore., with her Lutheran Norwegian family, she said she didn't know a lot about Catholicism as a child and regarded nuns as somewhat mysterious.
Struthers said she often spots nuns in the audience and sometimes chats with them after the show.
"Underneath that habit, there's a woman that has a story," she said.
It was Goggin's experiences in Catholic school that inspired the show's underlying satire, she said.
At heart, she said, the show is about vaudevillian-style comedy, not religion.
"It keeps moving and some of it is just absolutely hilarious," she said. "He just tapped into something."
If you go
What: "Nunsense"
Where: Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora
When: 3 and 8 p.m. Nov. 8
Tickets: $35.50, $45.50, $50.50
Box office: (630) 896-6666
Info: www.paramountaurora.com