What's more useless than a blind umpire in a baseball game? A critic at a 'Nunsense' show. Goggin has used Chanhassen as a shakedown cruise for the past several 'Nunsense' shows, and at last Thursday's press opening, he expressed his gratitude. For the Chan, currently uncertain about its financial future, 'Nunset Boulevard' arrives at an opportune time. Goggin's stuff is box office cat-nip.

Which gets back to the umpire/critic joke. Goggin uses a solidly pat formula with long-established characters who need only the barest pretext. 'Plot?' they ask in one of their early songs. Who needs a plot? 'Drop the plot and what have you got? A show that's S.R.O.'

Nonetheless, Goggin cobbles togeth-er a little story. The Sisters were lured west by the chance to sing at the Hollywood Bowl. Arriving in Tinseltown, they discover it's the 'Hollywood Bowl-A-Rama,' a bowling alley.

Across the street from the Bowl-A-Rama, a producer is auditioning roles for a movie about Dolores Hart, an actor who left a promising film career to become a nun. Sister Mary Leo, the pretty Sister, seems perfect for the role. She runs over for an audition and...I wouldn't dream of ruining the surprise.

Under the Hollywood motif, Goggin stuffs his show with... pop-culture references and line after line of film dialogue. In one short sequence alone, he knocks off 'In the Heat of the Night,' 'Streetcar Named Desire,' 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Terminator,' 'Casablanca,' 'Princess Bride,' and 'Gone With the Wind.'

The thing is, it's impossible not to be amused---to marvel at Goggin's ability to spin this confection. His New York actors will be replaced by a local cast within the next month, but that shouldn't matter. So, play ball!"