Lincoln, Nebraska — February 14, 2003 — Late Nite Catechism, a joyous, yet respectful look at Catholic school days of the past, will take up residency in the Lied Center’s Johnny Carson Theater from Tuesday, March 4 through Sunday, March 23, 2003 for 24 performances. Show times will be at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays, with 2:00 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. The Sunday evening performances will have a curtain time of 7:00 p.m. (Call the Lied Center box office with questions about show times.)

Late Nite Catechism, written by Vicki Quade and Maripat Donovan, is an uproarious piece of theater that takes audience members back to the children they once were. The irrepressible Sister teaches an adult catechism class to roomful of “students” (the audience). Over the course of the play, Sister goes from benevolent instructor, rewarding students for correct answers with glow-in-the-dark rosaries and Virgin Mary refrigerator magnets, to authoritative drill sergeant. And don’t worry if your childhood didn’t include Catholic schooling; Sister wants to help all of those who may have been deprived of this experience as children.

As Newsday claims, Late Nite Catechism is a “funny, sharply satiric, always affectionate look at old-fashioned religion. An entertaining mix of monologue, stand-up, improv, and Oprah.”

Playing the role of Sister will be Kathleen Stefano. Originally from Ohio, Stefano has been acting in San Francisco for over 20 years. Some of her favorite stage roles were in Night, Streetcar Named Desire, The Ballad of the Sad Café, Balm and Gilead, Night of the Iguana, Taco Jesus, In the Summer When It’s Hot and Sticky, When You Come Back Red Ryder, and Three Sisters. She has had roles in the films Patch Adams, Good Luck, Copycat, Rainmaker, Cherish, and Killer Klowns From Outer Space. She is a founding member of San Francisco’s Class Act Theatre Company and also directs and teaches acting.

Tickets for this performance are $35. University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Nebraska Wesleyan University and Doane College students as well as youth 18 and younger, with proper identification, can purchase tickets for half-price. The Lied Center for Performing Arts is located at 301 North 12 Street in Lincoln, Nebraska, on the campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Call the Lied box office at (402) 472-4747 or (800) 432-3231 for ticket availability. Regular box office hours are 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays. The box office in the Johnny Carson Theater will open one hour prior to performance. To order tickets online or for more information on any Lied Center performances, visit the Lied Center’s web page at www.liedcenter.org.

Lied Center programming is supported by Friends of Lied and grants from National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; Heartland Arts Fund, jointly supported by Arts Midwest and Mid-America Arts Alliance; and Nebraska Arts Council. All events in the Lied Center are made possible entirely or in part by the Lied Performance Fund, which has been established in memory of Ernst F. Lied and his parents, Ernst M. and Ida K. Lied.
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