THEATER REVIEW : Stuff and ‘Nunsense’ Make the Marys Go Round : Good casting is the first of many right steps to keep up the frenzied energy of Brea Theatre League’s production of the irreverently clever musical comedy.

Those nutty Little Sisters of Hoboken are at it again. As the opening number of Dan Goggin’s sendup of a convent fund-raiser says, “Nunsense Is Habit-Forming.”

“Nunsense,” produced by the Brea Theatre League, is irreverent in its imagery and deucedly clever in its lyrics and gives five hyper actresses a chance to let it all hang out. Well, most of it.

A highly successful hit off-Broadway, “Nunsense” takes place during a desperate evening when the Sisters of the Mt. Saint Helen’s School are trying to raise money to bury four of their cohorts.

A case of botulism, brought on by a vichyssoise prepared by chef Sister Julia, Child of God, has done in 52 of the nuns. Most have been interred, but when Mother Superior Sister Mary Regina decided to buy a VCR, there wasn’t enough cash left to get the remaining four out of the kitchen freezer and into the ground.

That’s about as lucid as the evening gets. Most of it is sheer camp, and most of that will bring special chuckles to anyone who has served time under parochial nuns.

The humor has equal rewards for non-Catholics. From “So You Want To Be a Nun” to “Just a Coupla Sisters,” the songs are bright, and the nuns’ puns are unabashed groaners.

Gary Krinke, who directs the piece with vivacious good humor, only allows his company to let down on their energy a couple of times. While a hastily thrown together benefit might in reality find the nuns wandering aimlessly about as they begin, a satiric re-creation should hint at the effect without actually becoming aimless.

Once they get going, though, Krinke knows exactly what the rhythms should be and keeps his cast hopping about the stage in a frenzy.

*

Krinke has cast the piece well. The individual nuns, with their kinky outlooks and outrageous abandon, are sharply defined in this cast, which is obviously enjoying every moment.

Rachel Miller is a lovably stern Mother Superior, her brassy voice and her ability to forget her dignity a charmer. Denise Vallin bubbles exuberantly as Sister Mary Hubert, who is in charge of the novices, and has no trouble switching from vaudevillian pizazz to raucous gospel.

Sister Mary Robert Anne, who is certainly streetwise, but not in the way Mother Superior thought, is played by Anette Sanders with an indelible sense of fun, particularly when she finally gets to do her big number, “I Just Want To Be a Star.” A frustrated ballerina, Sister Mary Leo gives Aimee Boice not only a chance en pointe , but to get her extra laughs in “Soup’s On (The Dying Nun Ballet).”

A running gag (that pays off at the end), the saga of Sister Mary Amnesia is one of the best jokes in the script. Of course, she can’t remember a thing, but Laurie T. Freed as Amnesia doesn’t skip a beat, with a wistful smile that could break your heart and a shyness that’s all but shattered when she starts to remember that “I Could’ve Gone to Nashville.”

The show is performed on what’s left of the Curtis Theatre’s last production (“Grease”), purportedly a staging by the Mt. St. Helen’s eighth grade. John Vaughan’s choreography is brisk and often inventive, and Jo Monteleone’s musical direction sparkles.

*”Nunsense,” Curtis Theatre, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea Civic Cultural Center, Brea. Wednesdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m., Saturday matinees, 2 p.m. Ends June 19 . $12.50. (714) 990-7722. Running time: 2 hours.

Rachel Miller: Sister Mary Regina

Denise Vallin: Sister Mary Hubert

Anette Sanders: Sister Mary Robert Anne

Laurie T. Freed: Sister Mary Amnesia

Aimee Boice: Sister Mary Leo

A Brea Theatre League production. Book, music and lyrics: Dan Goggin. Director: Gary Krinke. Musical direction: Jo Monteleone. Choreography: John Vaughan. Lighting: Kevin Smith. Sound design: Jared Spears.