Sister Act

Sister Act is a feel- good musical comedy based on the 1992 hit film. Deloris Van Cartier witnesses a murder, committed by her non-committal nightclub owning boyfriend. She is placed in protective custody in the one place the police are sure she`d never be found- a convent. Disguised as a nun, in time she finds her “calling”- teaching the other nuns to Raise their voices and be heard. After lots of soul searching, shenanigans, and a rise in the popularity of the church, her cover is blown and the gang find her with a view to letting her meet her maker a little earlier than intended.

Deloris Van Cartier was played well by Sam Grundy- brash, loud and plenty of attitude when in club-singer mode, with a softer, more gentle side to her as the show progressed, winning over the Mother Superior in the end. Deloris`s backing singers, (Amy Ollerton and Daisy Skyrme), looked and sounded great, although I did get the feeling they were a little self- conscious about either their moves or costumes. 

Pam Mellor played the Mother Superior with ease-some of  her facial expressions were worth the ticket price alone. She was ably supported by Alastair Rae as her foil, Monsignor O`Hara. Trudi Carter and Terri Foley played the bubbly Sister Mary Patrick and the deadpan Sister Mary Lazarus, squeezing every bit of comedy out of the roles- though I don`t think onesie`s were fashionable in the seventies. Stand out performance of the night was, for me, Olivia Muir as the timid, quiet Sister Mary Robert, the postulant nun who hasn`t chosen to be a nun, but is there because she knows nothing else. She captured the wide eyed innocence of the character wonderfully and when she found her voice, her exuberance and vocals were a joy to behold.

Louis Simon played Policeman Eddie, who had/ has a crush on Deloris since High School- she remembers him as Sweaty Eddie. Eddie`s “I could be that guy”, got the sympathetic response from the audience that the song cried out for……….until he moved. With each step, a little more of both of his costumes came apart, so the “reveal” in the end came as no surprise (note: always check/get somebody to check wardrobe before going on stage). Deloris`s boyfriend, and the murderer, Curtis was played complete with hair and dodgy 70`s `tache by a menacing Steve Low. Both Steve and Louis were solid in their performances, or at least as solid as the script allowed them to be.

Curtis`s Stooges, TJ and Joey were earnestly performed by Thomas Kidd and Kirk Robson. Both had a lot of comedic moments, although a lot of these were lost during the songs-especially in “The Girl In The Long Black Dress”- whilst visually it was funny, I couldn`t hear what they were singing, due to their microphones not working, or the balance being wrong.

All chorus numbers were performed with vigour and gusto. The chorus and solo work in the convent scenes was excellent- you could tell that everyone up there was really enjoying being part of the production.

Set wise, the society have done wonders again- subtly incorporating outside and inside scenes on the same flats. With some productions, this would become an issue, but here, you don`t really notice it. Some scene changes though, were a little confusing – set being brought on after tabs have re-opened, yet being set behind tab-lines etc- there were a few technical issues which, by the Friday night I would have thought they should have been ironed out.

With all of the musical numbers, I felt that the leading soloists were “feeling their way “ into each song- starting off quietly, then hitting full throttle by the first chorus. As the show progressed though, it became more apparent that they were starting full throttle, but the balance (as stated earlier)  between the orchestra -who sounded great by the way, and microphones wasn`t right, and didn`t actually change throughout the production- whether this was a microphone issue, or a sound system issue, I`m not sure.

Does the transposition from screen to stage do the film justice? From a personal point of view, I don`t think so- whilst the scenes within the convent are wonderfully written and boast some brilliant chorus numbers, the other, non-convent scenes are clunky and just seem to be there as filler. There are some good bits, in fact there are some really good bits, but the sum of the parts doesn`t always equal the whole-and that`s how I feel about the show itself- but not necessarily the production.

The one thing that really did come across, and has in all of the productions I have seen, is how much fun everyone on stage was having, and their enthusiasm is infectious

As I say, the orchestra sounded great under the baton of Jane Thedham.

First time Producer and Choreographer Hannah Fish did a great job, and should give herself and the company a huge pat on the back.

Well done Grange and District Operatic Society, and thank you for your hospitality.

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