SYNOPSIS

HOME PAGE

ABOUT

TOURING & TICKETS
WHAT THE CHURCH SAYS

ARTICLES & REVIEWS

CONTACT

Why is mass no longer said in Latin?

How come we can eat meat on Fridays?

And what happened to women wearing hats in church? 

These are just some of the issues Margaret Mary O’Malley, the choir director for St. Nicholas church explains to the town council of Dexterville, so that the council members can make an informed decision on whether to tear down the church or let it be saved. The city of Dexterville owns the land the church sits on dating back fifty years. The lease is now up on the land and Margaret Mary’s beloved St. Nicholas church is doomed to be leveled in order to build a new SuperMart. So, how does Margaret Mary O’Malley convince the council members NOT to tear down her church and replace it with a super-duper tax revenue-generating SuperMart? 


Margaret Mary knows that many other churches and Catholic schools have fallen to the same fate as St. Nicholas, because of the lack of attendance due to the changes 
Vatican II made in the early sixties. But unlike those other failed churches, Margaret Mary has a plan to save her church.   Margaret Mary uses her dazzling wit, charm 
and anecdotal stories as she recounts her Catholic upbringing in hilarious, touching and memorable moments, (did you throw up
in church too?) She has to win over the cranky chairman of the town council and its members in order to spare her beloved church. Margaret Mary recalls her first  Holy Communion story, which alone will garner hysterical support. Unfortunately, her stories and wit do not impress the irritable chairman. 
At first glance, it does not look good for Margaret Mary and her church, so she tries a different approach. Margaret Mary encourages the citizens of Dexterville (the audience) to rally around her to save St. Nicholas by signing a petition. At the show’s end, does Margaret Mary O’Malley succeed or fail?   

The uproarious conclusion will have the audience in comical stitches and Margaret Mary finally at a loss for words exclaiming “What the Hell Happened?” 

The special comedic/acting talents of Kathy Cogan come alive in the character of St. Nicholas' choir director, Margaret Mary O’Malley. Many of you may already be familiar with Kathy’s brilliant and varied work. For many years, Ms. Cogan played “Sister” in Late Nite Catechism and starred in the national sensation, The Vagina Monologues. Now, it is Ms. Cogan’s turn to create a one-person show of her own. Ms. Cogan wrote, co-produced and will star in this new comical one-person show (with contributions made by Michael Coleman). The stories Ms. Cogan tells are straight from her memories of growing up right in the “thick of the confusing change” between Vatican I and Vatican II. The moments she recounts are funny and touching especially for a little girl of 6 years old, who one Sunday went to mass, which was spoken in Latin by the priest to the next Sunday when mass was suddenly spoken in English with the priest facing you saying “It’s okay to have a burger on Friday.

 
“What the Hell Happened?”