THEATER REVIEWS : Pulling Laughs Out of a Habit : The revival of ‘Nunsense’ at Orange Coast College features devilish shenanigans.

If there’s a moral lurking somewhere in “Nunsense,” it may be: Watch what you eat.

Dan Goggin’s frothy little musical, now in a frothy little revival at Orange Coast College, begins with the Mother Superior of the Little Sisters of Hoboken informing us that Sister Julia’s vichyssoise was bad, very bad. So bad that 52 nuns died of botulism.

God does work in mysterious ways, letting those nuns go like that, with no money to bury them. Is that the health inspector at the door? At least he could wait until our amateur hour of a fund-raiser is over. Then we could plant them, then everything would be bliss again.

Sound a tad ghoulish? Nah. “Nunsense,” which won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle award for best off-Broadway musical in 1986, is too soft-hearted to be provocative, too blithe to chill. It makes fun of Catholic dogma, but mainly it just tries to make fun.

That’s certainly Alex Golson’s approach at OCC. The director and his small cast emphasize the wackiness of “Nunsense,” asserting vaudevillian exuberance to keep the show’s energy high. All the shenanigans can feel labored and redundant after a while, but there are giggles along the way.

They start with the mother superior (Harriet C. Whitmyer) telling us, however abashed, that she originally worked in a leper colony “because all the good causes were taken.” And about that potato soup? “For 52, bon appetit was also bon voyage.” Whitmyer stands out with her giddy delivery, reaching a crescendo when the mother superior accidentally gets stoned near the end of Act I.

Goggin has given her a cartoonish but clear personality, as he has with the rest of the ladies in this unheavenly quintet. Sister Mary Hubert (Kathleen Dowd) may be only second in charge, but that doesn’t stop her from chiding the mother superior whenever she can. She’s also a madcap tap-dancer.

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Sister Robert Anne (Catherine Petz) is on the rough side but has artistic ambitions; she’s the Ethel Merman of the group. Sister Mary Leo (Brandeis McBratney) would rather do ballet than pray, but there’s not much demand for it in the cloister. As for Sister Mary Amnesia (Elizabeth Fallin), her name says it all: She barely can remember why she’s here in the first place.

In keeping with the “environmental” aspect of the production (you are supposed to feel like church supporters, there to enjoy the amateur hour and then open wide your wallets), Golson has outfitted the musicians (Bill Wolfe and John Barton) in priestly garb and has the nuns themselves greeting ticket-holders as they take their seats. Such touches, and the intentionally crummy set by David Scaglione, lend a proper by-the-seat-of-our-pants ambience.

* “Nunsense,” the Drama Lab Theatre at Orange Coast College, 2701 Fairview Road, Costa Mesa. Fridays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 3 p.m. Ends July 3. $7 and $8. (714) 432-5880. Running time: 2 hours. Harriet C. Whitmyer Mother Superior

Kathleen Dowd Sister Mary Hubert

Catherine Petz Sister Robert Anne

Elizabeth Fallin Sister Mary Amnesia

Brandeis McBratney Sister Mary Leo

An Orange Coast College production. Music, lyrics and book by Dan Goggin. Directed by Alex Golson. Set by David Scaglione. Lighting by Jane Phillips Hobson. Costumes by Jennifer Anderson. Musical direction by Bill Wolfe. Stage manager: Kathy Sanger.