For a reasonable price you can take in a dinner and a comedy at Rainbow Dinner Theatre in an atmosphere where you feel like you’re part of the party. The wait staff, which include some of the actors, are friendly and courteous and quick to please. The food choices are very good and the desserts are delectable.
DRINKING HABITS, written by award-winning playwright Tom Smith, is a play about the threat of a small convent closing its doors and two nuns who desperately try to keep them open by secretly making and selling wine. Accusations and mistaken identities run rampant in this belly-laughing farce as two reporters go undercover, spurring paranoia throughout the convent that spies have been sent from Rome to shut them down. Spirits and secrets are spilled as everyone tries to preserve the convent and reconnect with lost loves.
The story takes place at the convent of the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing. The set, exquisitely designed with wooden doors, warm-toned color scheme, stone-framed radius windows overlooking fall foliage scenery is the perfect backdrop.
Jennifer Hope, Cynthia DiSavino and Josey Miller in a scene from Rainbow Dinner Theatre’s DRINKING HABITS. (Photo credit: David DiSavino)
Being raised Catholic, Laura thoroughly enjoyed the nun and priest stereotypical parodies and the frequent yardstick jokes and sternness delivered by Mother Superior (Cynthia DiSavino). A somewhat nervous and often speechless uuuhhh, eeerrr Sister Philamena (Josey Miller) and bossy yet cautious Sister Augusta (Jennifer Hope) complement each other, making a loony duo; a female Abbott and Costello of sorts. Not only are they expert seamstresses, they are also secret experts in the wine business. Two former fiancés, career-minded Sally (Angela D’Angelo) and lovelorn Paul (Jimmy “2Step” Cosentino) are sent to uncover their scheme and are mistaken for a nun and visiting priest. D’Angelo and Cosentino make a remarkable sappy pair. Once magician harebrained Father Chenille (Joe Winters) delivers his lines with ease as he believes Paul to be a spy from Rome and connives the charming yet perplexed groundskeeper George (Jonathan Erkert) to impersonate a priest so he can spy on Paul. Mother Superior believes the sweet soft-spoken character of Sister Mary Catherine (Lauren Zehr) to be a spy sent from Rome as well.
The script was accurate to a Catholic fault and the lines were well delivered by the entire cast, never missing a beat. The facial expressions and body movements of Cosentino and Miller, in particular, add to the madcap humor and the sweetness of Erkert and Zehr adds just the right balance. To sum it up, every character deserves an ovation. The show flowed like they’ve been doing it for years.
This play is a rollicking, fun-filled travesty of organized chaos bursting with non-stop laughter. A must see for everyone. We invited two couples to join us for an evening out. They thoroughly enjoyed themselves and will definitely be going back.
DRINKING HABITS
by Tom Smith
August 16 – October 25, 2014
Rainbow Dinner Theatre
3065 Lincoln Hwy East (RT 30 East)
Paradise, PA 17562
800.292.4301
http://www.rainbowdinnertheatre.com/
