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The summer blitz is over, and some of the outdoor theater stages taken down, but that only means the fall theater season on Cape Cod has just gotten started.

Two shows have already been deemed worth seeking out by our reviewers. Fresh from opening last weekend is “Nunsense,” a musical with singing and dancing nuns, by the Academy of Performing Arts in Orleans. Then Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre is bringing back its hit revue of the early summer that offers a night of music by Linda Ronstadt and a tour through her career.

New this week are two other musical entertainments — one unusual romance story, and one face and voice familiar to Broadway audiences and Sirius XM radio listeners — and a new perspective on a Shakespeare classic. Take a look and plan your entertainment (and check all COVID-19 requirements):

Review: ‘Nunsense’

Written by: Dan Goggin (book, music and lyrics), presented by the Academy of Performing Arts

What it’s about: If you went to Catholic school back in the days of Latin Mass and nuns in voluminous black and white habits, then you know them. There’s the (supposedly) stern Mother Superior, the novices full of vinegar, and the classroom queens you always suspected would rather be under a spotlight. Here they are in all their penguin-garbed glory for this ever-popular spoof of life behind the convent walls. The show is a fun- and music-filled romp through life at Mount St. Helen’s School (that’s the first pun), staged as a show the singing sisters are performing to earn a little extra green.

Highlight of the show: It’s the dance numbers. There’s a tap number that’s full of energy and fun. (Picture five nuns you knew back at school, in full uniform and tapping their way across a stage.) It’s especially fun to watch lively Alyssa Freeman (Sister Mary Leo) tap and toe-dance through various numbers.

Fun fact: Goggin developed the concept as a line of greeting cards. Then he developed a cabaret-style show and eventually the full-length musical

Worth noting: There are fun bits of audience participation. It’s easy to pick out the Catholics in the audience; they stand to answer Jen Almeida’s (Sister Amnesia’s) questions.

One more thing: This is the first musical on the venerable Academy stage since August 2019, and it’s good to hear music there again.

If you go: 7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays through Sept. 19 at the Academy Playhouse, 120 Main St. Orleans; $24 adults, $15 children; 508-202-1952; www.academyplayhouse.org. Masks and distancing are required in the theater.

Sue Mellen

Review: ‘Silver Threads’

The show: “Silver Threads: A Rockin’ Tribute to Linda Ronstadt,” conceived by Sonia Schonning and Marcia Wytrwal

What it’s about: This is a musical tour de force through the long — and surprisingly diverse — career of one of the all-time greats of rock music. Cape-based female vocalists Wytrwal, Sonia Schonning and Sara Sneed take turns as lead singer, backed by a four-piece band led by longtime musical director Robert Wilder.

Highlight of the show: Sneed flawlessly performs “Poor Wandering One” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance.” Ronstadt played Mabel in the classic operetta, in 1980 on Broadway (earning a Tony Award nomination) and in the 1983 film version.

Fun fact: Ronstadt was born in Tucson, which explains the country/western feel to some of her songs.

Worth noting: The long list of songs includes familiar and not-so-familiar Ronstadt numbers, including “When Will I Be Loved,” “Different Drum,” “Hurt So Bad,” and of course “Desperado.”

One more thing: Ronstadt’s father’s background was Mexican, likely contributing to some of her beautifully plaintive Spanish songs. This show includes “Tu Solo Tu” and “Por Un Amor.”

If you go: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 10-11, 17-18, 24-25 indoors at Cape Cod Theatre Company/Harwich Junior Theatre, 105 Division St., West Harwich; 508-432-2002 or www.capecodtheatrecompany.org. Masks are required.

Sue Mellen

A different look at ‘Much Ado’

Cape Rep Theatre in Brewster will partner with ÁSA Theatre to present a new spin on a Shakespeare comedy with “MUCH ADO / about nothing,” adapted and directed by Andy Arden-Reese.

The romantic comedy still involves young lovers Hero and Claudio, playboy Benedick, headstrong Beatrice and other characters, but with different motivations for some stories — and even the question of “What if the villain is not who it seems?”

Shows are at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9-11 and Sept. 15-18, and 2 p.m. Sept. 12 and 19 at Cape Rep’s Outdoor Theatre, 3299 Route 6A, Brewster. Tickets: $25; 508-896-1888 or www.caperep.org.

Eventide goes live with ‘Last Five Years’

Eventide Theatre Company returns to live performance with Jason Robert Brown’s musical “The Last Five Years.” The show follows two New Yorkers who fall in and out of love over five years — with each telling the story in a different chronological order (meeting once, in the middle, at their wedding).

Shows are at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays, Sept. 9-26 at the Dennis Union Church, 713 Main St. Tickets: eventidearts.org. Proof of COVID-19 vaccination required.

Christine Pedi in Provincetown

This week’s guest for the “Broadway @” series in Provincetown will be actress and Sirius XM radio host Christine Pedi, with Matthew Ward at the piano. Pedi has appeared on Broadway in “Little Me,” “Chicago” and “Talk Radio.”

Her show will be at 7:30 Sept. 11 at the Art House, 214 Commercial St., Provincetown. Proof of vaccination and masks are required. Tickets and information: https://provincetownarthouse.com/.