Sister Act

Deloris was a landmark role for Whoopi Goldberg in the original film version of “Sister Act”; the musical is similarly something of a star vehicle, and Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead Theatre Company had been able to cast a veritable star in the role.  Deloris radiated confidence and personality from the very start: a restless, ambitious, articulate bundle of energy.  The actress evidently knew the role inside out – she didn’t so much portray Deloris as inhabit the character and fill it to the brim with attitude and sass.  From the moment she witnesses her lover shooting a member of his crew, to when she faces him down at the convent, we are caught up in her story; the dawning realisation that she has been on the wrong path with the wrong priorities – “I don’t need the spotlight, the crowd” – was particularly affecting.

Alan Menken’s score, with its vibraphone shimmers and strategic key changes, was reminiscent of his work on several Disney animations and it conjured up 70s pop culture in drawing on sources such as Motown, “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease” amongst others.  But Menken is also very skilled at setting mood and manipulating our emotions, and the Director did well to follow the musical prompts, such as when the highly stylised, almost cartoonish "Chase" segued into a potent kiss between Deloris and policeman Eddie without feeling clunky.  The Musical Director drew some good harmony singing from the company in numbers such as “Bless Our Show”, while also ensuring that the nuns were truly terrible before Deloris worked her magic on them: to sing that badly, on purpose, takes talent.  The choreography was quite properly focused on individuals’ movement rather than stylised unison routines, and the ways in which the nuns moved and swayed really captured the essence of the score: they all looked as if they were having the time of their lives.

The stage in the Old Court is quite compact and the company wisely opted for projections rather than traditional scenery.  These projections were expertly done, with lots of perspective in the main settings (including an effective recreation of The Last Supper), good colour palettes to evoke, for example, stained glass in the convent, and dynamic variation to signify the night club and elevate the show-stopping numbers.  The lighting design was also good, with barely a suggestion of a shadow on the backcloth, and with gobos used to add character to the front curtain.  The costumes added greatly to the visual appeal of the piece: the nuns’ habits gained a showbizzy panel as their fame spread, and Eddie’s set piece multi-level reveal – a police uniform over a sparkly jacket over another police uniform – was very effective.

The company delivered a truly uplifting afternoon’s entertainment, comic and touching by turns, all skilfully drawn together by the creative team and elevated by an outstanding performance in the leading role.  As Deloris might say, “Fabulous, baby!”.

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