Laughs Galore at State Theatre's Late Night Catechism II

Sponsored by Catholic Federal Credit Union to Benefit Catholic Education

May 1, 2011
By: O. J. Cunningham

I don't know where you were last Saturday night, but I was in Row four of the State Theatre in Bay City, Michigan -- watching a live, on-stage performance of Maripat Donovan's "Late Night Catechism II."

After 16 years of Catholic education (4 years of Catholic college, too), I'm pretty sure I'm specifically who this stage show was written for.

And thanks to the efforts of Catholic Federal Credit Union's Bridget Looby, the 500 seats in the State Theatre were filled to capacity on Saturday night for an event to raise money for Catholic education in the Great Lakes Bay Area. A second (overflow) show was scheduled for 2:00pm on Sunday.

Late Night Catechism is a hilarious comedy written by Maripat Donovan.

It really doesn't matter if you're a Catholic school alumnus, a practicing Catholic or a non-Catholic. Sister has something of interest for everyone.

Sister pulled out all the Catholic clichés. She remembered the children in her Catholic school classes, and the unfortunate children who did not get to go to Catholic school, the "Publics," whose parents didn't love them enough to send them to Catholic school.

If anyone in the audience breaks the rules, they get undue attention from Sister!

Some examples are:

A young lady (Just Plain Cathy) who arrived late and sat in the 3rd row, wore a very low-cut blouse and was given tissues to cover the exposed areas and told . . . "Honey, even Mary Magdalene wouldn't have chosen that outfit!"

A cute couple, in the front row, who sat too close together were admonished to "Leave room for the Holy Spirit!"

And of course, there's was no talking allowed during class and Sister was quick to confiscate any gum from anyone in class caught chewing.

The two and a half hour performance was non-stop laughs as Sister interacted with the audience throughout the entire night. Sister compared a Catholic's desire to get to heaven as just another version of the childhood game of Chutes and Ladders.

Sister also offered her personal list of sins for the new millennium. (In case you were wondering, tattoos, body-piercings, and botox injections are high on her sin list.)

The "Catechism" productions continue (Sponsored by Catholic Federal Credit Union) with scheduled shows set for September ('Til Death Do Us Part: Late Nite Catechism 3') and December ('Sister?s Christmas Catechism: The Mystery of the Magi?s Gold'.) Click Here for ticket information.