By TOM SIME / The Dallas Morning News

RICHARDSON -- If you don't particularly miss old-school nuns, you just might start after Late Nite Catechism 2. This solo comedy -- which simulates an adult catechism class -- picks up where Late Nite Catechism left off when it came to the Eisemann Center last year. Indeed, it proved more of a rerun than a sequel at Tuesday's opening, a bit like Dame Edna's act.

But so much of the show is interactive, with Sister trolling audience members for ad-lib material, that it's hardly noticeable.

This time, Patti Hannon plays Sister, the role originally created by writer Maripat Donovan. Sister is a classic nun, dressed in traditional habit -- not like the nuns of today, who wear "the newest fashions from Sears."

Sister started right in, catching a gum chewer on her entrance, then scolding latecomers. One patron earned a "sin sticker," another a "Got Guilt?" button.

Though the show should appeal to members of all religions, even Episcopalians ("Catholic lite"), it's all about taking grown Catholics back to their school days, when having nuns as teachers was "an important part of the Catholic educational experience." Though they've stopped using threats of bodily injury as a motivator ("too many lawyers"), nuns used to be downright scary. "Sisters of Mercy -- that's a misnomer," said Sister. "We invented shock and awe," Sister told us.

The main theme of Tuesday's class was penance. We learned "how to get to heaven and avoid going to hell." One way is to be like Mother Teresa, who was pretty much a dream Catholic: "She loved lepers, and she was really good at fund raising."

It's important to remember that there are different levels of sin. "Venial sin, I robbed a 7-Eleven. Mortal sin, I shot the clerk," Sister explained. But she boasted that Catholics can still have fun. In moderation, smoking, drinking and even gambling are OK, even for Sister. "But it's a huge buzz kill to see a nun in a casino," she admitted.

To help guide us in this uncertain age, we learned about "new sins for the new millennium." These include road rage ("making immodest gestures while driving"), rooting for Tony Soprano, owning a bobblehead doll of any member of the Holy Family, watching Mass on picture-in-picture during a Cowboys game, dining at Hooter's ("I've been there; there's no owls") and cosmetic surgery ("If you're ugly, join the clergy").

Another sin is making fun of holy persons, but Sister was willing to take her chances. "I'd rather spend a few weeks in purgatory than not get the laugh," she confided. Based on Tuesday's laugh count, she may be looking at a longer sentence.

E-mail tsime@dallasnews.com

Late Nite Catechism 2, presented at the Eisemann Center Theatre, 2351 Performance Drive, Richardson, through Sunday. Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets $26 to $34. Runs 140 min. Call 972-744-4650, or go to www.eisemanncenter.com.