A Catechism Instead of a Carol

CSI: BETHLEHEM?
“SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM” OPENS AT THE COSMOPOLITAN CABARET ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 24 FOR A LIMITED 6-WEEK RUN!

California Musical Theatre will present the one-woman interactive comedy “SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” beginning November 24, 2009, at The Cosmopolitan Cabaret theatre at 1000 K Street. The play will follow the currently running “Late Nite Catechism: ’Til Death Do Us Part,” which closes November 22. Both productions star Nonie Newton-Breen as “Sister,” the tough-talking nun who helps audience members relive their childhoods in Catholic school – even if they’ve never attended.

Tickets for “SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM” are on sale now and are available at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, at 1419 H Street, by phone at (916) 557-1999 or online at http://www.tickets.com/. The limited six-week run will close January 4. Tickets start at just $32. Discounts for groups of 12 or more are available by calling (916) 557-1198.

Written by Maripat Donovan with Marc Silvia and Jane Morris, “SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM” tackles the question, “Whatever happened to the Three King’s gold?” It’s CSI: Bethlehem when sister invites her audience to be characters in a living nativity/crime scene! A hilarious new way to celebrate the holidays, local choirs will join Sister on stage with Christmas carols. Audiences should bring along their cameras; Sister’s waiting with a sleigh full of gifts and a bundle of laughs.

“SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” stars Nonie Newton-Breen as Sister. For eight years Newton-Breen has appeared across the country in the “Catechism” plays. From a large Irish-Catholic family in Chicago, she herself attended Catholic school where she studied under the raised ruler of a Sister Regina Therese. Newton-Breen is a veteran of Chicago’s famed Second City Theatre, where she learned to “write on her feet.” She toured clubs and colleges as part of an improvisation troupe and earned an Emmy Award for writing and performing as a part of a career that includes appearing on soaps and sitcoms and writing for various shows including “Candid Camera.”

The Cosmopolitan Cabaret, at 1000 K Street in Sacramento (K Street at 10th), is a 203-seat theatre featuring table seating and tiered seating at beverage counters, adjacent to the Cosmo Café. Presented by California Musical Theatre, producer of Broadway Sacramento and Music Circus, The Cosmopolitan Cabaret is the newest entertainment experience in Downtown Sacramento, having just completed its first year.

Performances are Tuesday through Sunday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. Additional matinee performances are available Thursday, December 10 and Thursday, December 24. There will be evening performances on Thursday, December 24 and Sunday, December 13. Please note, there will be no performances on Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26 or on Christmas, Friday, December 25.

Tickets for “SISTER’S CHRISTMAS CATECHISM: The Mystery of the Magi’s Gold” are $32 for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday evenings and Thursday matinees ($42 for front row premium table seating) and $37 for Friday and Saturday evenings and Saturday and Sunday matinees ($47 for front row premium table seating).

Tickets are available at the Wells Fargo Pavilion Box Office, 1419 H Street, or by phone at (916) 557-1999. The Cosmopolitan Cabaret box office will open two hours before show time. Tickets are also available online at http://www.tickets.com/, all tickets.com outlets or by calling (800) 225-2277. Group orders (minimum 12 or more) may be placed by calling (916) 557-1198.

For more information, visit http://www.cosmopolitancabaret.com/.