Sister Act

The stage adaptation of ‘Sister Act’ premiered at the Pasadena Playhouse in California in October 2006 and ran for just two months. In 2009 it ran in the West End before an 18 month run on Broadway in 2012. It was nominated for both the Olivier and Tony Awards and is a musical with a real feel-good factor.

Having been adapted from a film there are numerous scene changes and so it presents more of a challenge than do the traditional older musicals. Generally speaking they were accomplished quickly and effectively and whilst sometimes the stage appeared rather bare, that was relieved by the projections which were excellent. The archways on both sides of the stage were appropriate for the main set of the convent and somehow faded into the background for other scenes. Mother Superiors Office set downstage left worked well and was nicely furnished.

The role of Deloris was played brilliantly by Harriet Langdown. She was loud and  brassy, as her type of nightclub singer  would be, and yet so encouraging - almost gentle, with the Sisters.

As Mother Superior, Sue gave her usual accomplished performance and made a strong but kind spiritual leader.. ‘I Got Her ’ in the second Act was superb - her every single word could be heard.

Beth was just lovely in the role of Sister Mary Robert, the novitiate in the Convent, and her acting and  singing were first rate.

Natalie Turville gave a good performance as Sister Mary Patrick and Leanne Dempsey had great fun with the part of Sister Mary Lazarus – a great character to play and she did it very well.

These three ladies were all strong in portraying their differing roles.

Playing the Irish Monsignor O’Hara, Tony Siddall was good with a slight Irish accent.

The bad boys of the piece seemed almost incidental. Not because of their performances but because in the writing of the piece they come across as such. Yes, they were necessary for the plot – the killing and then Deloris’s need to hide in a convent - but they didn’t seem to get a fair crack of the whip in the stage version.

Andrew Curtis made a reasonably scary gangster, Curtis Jackson, but the number’ When I Find My Baby’ was impossible to hear as the band overpowered them.

His three sidekicks, T.J, Joey and Pablo, played respectively by Will Parsons, Laurence Bogle and Kevin Hamden, did as much as was possible with their characters and provided comedy in their scenes.

Jonathan Payne’s acting and singing were commendable as Officer Eddie Souther,  alias Sweaty Eddie, which was a name he clearly lived up to proven by the dark patches under his arm pits! (A nice touch!)

The show really livened up with the great chorus number ‘Take Me To Heaven ‘at the end of Act One and Act Two was excellent.

The Confessional scene was good and the lighting enhanced it perfectly.

There were some really interesting personalities displayed amongst the Sisters and it was not easy to work out who they were (in real life) due to their habit (!), but I did notice Janet, who most effectively made herself into an elderly Sister by changing her stance and posture.

Costumes were good and I loved the cerise coloured dresses in one number and the gold and red in another.

The appearance of Pope James caused much laughter from the audience!

The finale was absolutely joyous - there was such a lot of fun and energy in the acting and singing in the Second Act and I left the theatre feeling uplifted.

Although Geoff Horton led a well-balanced band, occasionally they overpowered the vocalists, particularly in the underscored sections of dialogue.

Sound effects were realistic and the gun shot not too shocking.

Lighting too was good and created the right ambience for the very different scenes.

The choreography was first rate and Sue and Jenny did a good job on a show that couldn’t have been the easiest given the scene changes and the size of the stage at The Playhouse.

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