From a rack of greeting cards offering “tart quips with a clerical slant”—the genesis of the wildly popular and successful Off-Broadway Nunsense—a former dental assistant emerged as the mother of all superiors. That very first Reverend Mother Sister Mary Cordelia, the much-loved actress Marilyn J. Farina, 
had them rolling in the aisles of the original Duplex Cabaret on Grove St. in the early 1980s. After playing that role, she continued her acting career over the next 30 some-odd years. Some weeks ago, the sun-loving Farina, not feeling well, sought those healing rays on her roof deck, listening to a NY Yankees game. She died peacefully there, in her happy place.
Born on April 9, 1947, Farina was a graduate of Lenoir Rhyne College in North Carolina, where she majored in theatre and was known as the funniest and talented person on campus. Subsequently, a “day job” as a dental assistant in New Jersey, did not last long. In 1980 she was introduced to Danny Goggin, the creative behind Nunsense. Goggin had a share in a house on fire island and this eventually became a location where Farina, integral to the development of the musical, would write stories and joke with friends, who would take photos of Marilyn in the nun habit while creating and sharing nun stories.
The Nunsense concept originated as a line of greeting cards authored by Goggin. Their popularity moved him to expand the concept into a cabaret show called The Nunsense Story, which opened for a four-day run at the Duplex, and wound up playing for 38 weeks. It followed that in this triumph, Nunsense would emerge as full-length theater production, directed by Goggin, with Farina in place as the Mother Superior. Nunsense opened on December 12, 1985 at the Cherry Lane Theatre, where Farina, clad in a flowing habit and accompanied by a never-ending comic monologue with silly antics to punctuate each punch line, reigned supreme. The show then transfered to the Douglas Fairbanks Theater, where it remained for the majority of its ten-year run. By the time Nunsense closed, it had become an international phenomenon, eventually translated into at least 26 languages, with more than 8,000 productions worldwide.
Farina played Sister Mary Cordelia from 1985 through 1994. From that success, Farina went on to play in regional theatre productions and readings for such shows as Hello, Dolly!, playing Dolly Levi, Mother Burnside in Auntie Mame and Miss Pross in A Tale of Two Cities at the Helen Hayes theater in Nyack, NY. 
When she began to age out of prime theater roles, Farina turned to working as a photographer in the children’s department of a major toy store in New Jersey, where she had relocated from New York in 2004. That “role” was followed by working as a chef in a bridge club in Ramsey, NJ. In her off-duty time, Farina immersed herself in watching sports—her favorites among many types of games were the NY Jets and the NY Yankees. She was also a devote of, and ace at, the Sunday Times crossword puzzle.
Her friends agreed at her passing that Marilyn Farina was a great talent of immense comic skill:
“Marilyn and I were with Nunsense from the VERY beginning. She and I shared an apartment in Boston for the first out of town company. We were very close during that period and I can’t remember laughing as hard as then.” Lenny Babbish, pianist, songwriter, musical director and the original MD of Nunsens.
“Before the phenomenon called Nunsense, there was The Nunsense Story—a small but enormously creative show of sketch comedy and song. That is where I first saw Marilyn Farina on stage as Sister Mary Cordelia. There, in this tiny show, in this tiny club, on this tiny stage, was this larger than life, absolutely brilliant comedienne. She was an amazing combination of Lucille Ball and Jacki
e Gleason and had that perfect deadpan timing of Jack Benny. She was the embodiment of the great comedians of the 1950s. I fell in love with her. Everyone who ever saw her on stage fell in love with her. And then, if you had the great good fortune to spend time with her and get to know her off stage, your fate was sealed. You would forever be in love with Marilyn Farina. You would always be captivated by her smile, her laugh and her ever so contagious joie de vivre. Yes, she had star quality but in addition, she was a kind and generous person whose heart was as big as her talent and her infectious laugh. Rest in peace, Reverend Mother.” Helen Baldassare aka Sister Ralph Marie
“I spent only a year of my life with Marilyn. It seemed longer than that. Picture two women backstage in nun’s habits smoking cigarettes. Lots of laughs and vodka and adventures in San Francisco and Hollywood. I credit Marilyn for creating one of the funniest and finest moments in musical theatre—the poppers scene in Nunsense. I watched it every night. Her timing was flawless. Every movement and pause was impeccable. We ALL could use a little Marilyn right now.” Sharon McNight
“Marilyn was one of the sweetest, funniest and loving people I have ever met. Not a vicious bone in her body. Her comedic talent was known to all. She will be missed.” Carole Morales
Farina leaves behind a brother Bobby and two nieces, Nicole and Michelle. A memorial get-together will take place in the near future.
Enjoy these images of Marilyn Farina as the original Sister Mary Cordelia in Nunsense:
