OnStage: Dollars & Nunsense

This is it -- coast to coast. Danny Goggin has taken the Little Sisters of Hoboken. N.J, to the sunny reaches of Los Angeles with "Nunset Boulevard." The latest installment in Goggin's "Nunsense" empire has its world premiere at Chanhassen Dinner Theatre's Fireside Room, with the official opening Thursday.

Q They tell me this is your last "Nunsense." I seem to remember you saying that five years ago.

A The last two shows, I sort of got roped into doing them because my agent asked me to do it, and if you're in New York and your agent asks you to do something, you do it. I have nine shows now to work on, and they continue to play all the time all over the world. If I can't have a good time on nine shows, I've got a problem. I can't hardly say it, but I'm 66, and it's time to sit and play and have a good time.

Q So never again?

A When people say "You're going to write another one," I say, "No, no, no." I'm too old for this. But if Disney called and said, "Here's X amount of dollars; we want you to write five songs for an animated feature," I would gladly do that. But the idea of writing on spec and then hustling to get it done? The latest count on my shows is 8,000 productions and grosses of half a billion dollars.

Q You can live on that, right?

A I'm trying. Unfortunately, the theaters kept most of it. I said to my business manager, "These shows are running all over the world, where's my yacht, where's my servants?" All he said was, "Well, we both can't have these things." In the end, people don't know how much it costs to keep all this stuff going. Believe me, I have no complaints.

Q How has the business changed since you started this adventure?

A It's become so corporate. The days when we used to do the songs in the living room and the investors write their checks -- none of that anymore. When we opened "Nunsense" in 1985, we did it for $150,000. When they moved "Musical of Musicals" -- that little four-character show with no set -- it cost $750,000 [in 2004] off-Broadway. There's no way to make it back unless you've got tours lined up. You read about the latest Neil Simon disaster?

Q You like opening your shows at Chanhassen, yeah?

A This is the fifth one. We've done good business for them. I don't know of any other writer -- not even Stephen Sondheim -- all I have to do is call up and say, "I have another show." They have total trust in me. Of course, if we had a disaster the doors would lock.

Q Chanhassen does pretty well off you?

A "Nunsensations" brought in a huge amount of money. Two days ago, [Chanhassen artistic director] Michael Brindisi said the box office called and wondered if they could open up ticket sales for March, they're so far ahead now. A lot of theaters can't afford to put on big shows, and our shows can be put on and play well on a small stage, so we're getting a lot more major bookings. One theater in New York canceled "My Fair Lady" and put "Meshuggah Nuns" in; they said the interesting thing was, not only did it cost a fraction of "My Fair Lady," it sold more tickets.

Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299