"A Nun's Story," Scene 6

Act Two opens at the apartment, "later."  The towels used to be from Howard Johnson's rather than the much more show-specific "Hotel Pfister."  And since the "Nutsy" nickname did not exist in this version, Laverne just calls their guest Anne Marie.  (She does tell her to haul her buns out though.)  

After Laverne calls her "old 'love 'em and leave 'em' Polanski," she was supposed to ask, "What are you up to these days, you married?"  Then AM would say, "Uh... no...."  Laverne would say, "Sure.  Why get married?  I'll bet in Chicago there's a lot of the old Vo-de-oh-do-do."  (Yes, that's the spelling and capitalization.)  The "married" part was omitted.  Laverne asking if AM saw their "shrine" was added.  

After AM exits in the script, there's this:

LAVERNE

What happened?  How could you stand there like that and let me make a fool out of myself?

SHIRLEY

No one has to let you make a fool of yourself, Laverne.  You do it pretty well on your own.

The part with Shirley feeling like a bimbo compared to Anne Marie, and Laverne's Eleanor Roosevelt remark, actually came here, rather than post-reunion.  

But this is what came after Shirley suggests they claim they're nurses:

LAVERNE

You can't lie to a nun.

SHIRLEY

I don't think I'm going to enjoy this reunion.

LAVERNE

There may be a lot of people who won't enjoy this reunion.  Anne Marie's arrival was a big attraction.

SHIRLEY

She's going to see that we haven't changed at all.  All of a sudden our reunion seems so dumb.

LAVERNE

Look, Shirl.  I always thought it was dumb.  But we're stuck.  She came all the way from Chicago for this.

ANNE MARIE COMES OUT DRESSED IN HER HABIT.

ANNE MARIE

Well, I'm ready to go.

SHIRLEY

(BRIGHTENING QUICKLY) Great.  So are we.

LAVERNE

Yeah... right.  Let's go have fun.

ANNE MARIE

I must admit... I'm really very nervous.  It's the first time I've seen the old gang and I'm not sure how they'll take.... (SHE INDICATES HER HABIT)

SHIRLEY

Oh, that... who'll notice?

THE THREE OF THEM EXIT.

Onscreen, the girls, especially Laverne, are more concerned with AM being a buzzkill.  And AM doesn't return to the room before the scene change, so we don't know as much about what she's going through.

Thoughts:

• I wonder why they dropped the "married" part.  I could see Penny selling it.
• If AM coming all the way from Chicago for the reunion is a big deal, does that mean everyone else stuck around?  If so, the girls and Carmine traveling from California to attend the tenth-year reunion should be a big deal in itself.
• The emphasis in this scene is different, with originally more on Shirley questioning her life and trying to reassure AM.  The onscreen AM is more comfortable with who she is and how people might react.  In both versions, once Laverne gets over her shock, she's more philosophical about it all, disappointed but being her adjuster self.