A comedy by Vicki Quade, author of "Late Nite Catechism," will be presented by Downtown Jefferson City as a benefit to raise money to purchase new downtown Christmas lights.
Titled "Bible Bingo: An Act of Charity In Two Acts," the show is performed by the Chicago-based theater Nuns4Fun.
The show is about the Catholic culture of fundraising and bingo. In the play the parish needs money and the Archdiocese has a new bingo department. Thus the plot. The combination provides the audience with a night of trivia, audience participation, improvised moments and a funny quiz about catechism.
This is a one-person show and Quade said she often travels and plays the role herself, but a prior commitment prevented doing this in Jefferson City.
In this production Kathleen Puls Andrade plays the role of Mary Margaret O'Brien, head of the fundraising department. She is a professional actor/voiceover/improviser in Chicago. Andrade has taught at Second City in Chicago and with many improv workshops.
Quade wrote the show because she loves the bingo atmosphere in the Catholic culture and wanted to put this together with the impact of religion on society.
It is definitely an audience participation show. Games of bingo will be played with prizes given, and there will be a quiz show with audience members chosen to be the panel and audience members can come on stage to help give out prizes.
One of Quade's favorite parts of the show is the question-and-answer period. Quade advises those who want to come onstage to bone up on their catechism.
Quade created a character who is a former nun and is now a lay person. She feels this gives the show a broader base not just moments that only Catholics can enjoy.
The show runs about two hours with one intermission.
There is a lot of improvisation, because each audience is a different group.
"I have about 10 actresses to chose from in the Chicago area," Quade said.
Audiences tend to stretch from 20s to 60 and over. This always makes for fun.
Seven games of bingo will be played during the show.
When asked about the difficulty in writing a script for the show, Quade said that the original script was not hard. Then she spent about two years polishing it.
She said that she is always aware of changes coming from events taking place in the world, like the election of the new pope.
Quade said that she enjoys the traveling now that her own children are grown.
Many of the shows are benefits for various organizations and with the number of actresses she has to choose from she can perform several shows at one time.
Her base theater is the Royal George in Chicago where the play is produced three times every weekend.
"I am looking forward to performing in Jefferson City at Miller Center. I want the audience to come with the idea of participating and we will have a great time," Quade said.
At a glance
What: "Bible Bingo: An Act of Charity in Two Acts" performed by Nuns4Fun
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013.
Where: Miller Performing Arts Center in Jefferson City.
Tickets: $30 for reserved seats or 10 for $275; $25 for general admission; at Carrie's Hallmark, Central Motor Bank, Hawthorn Bank, and Samuel's Tuxedos. Proceeds benefit the Downtown Association.