Sister Act

Sister Act for me is a loud, bouncy musical – I was expecting great things from Mossley AODS and myself and my guest were not disappointed. From the moment the cast appeared on stage, we were drawn into the story.

The proscenium and stage flats had LED screens fitted which stood in for traditional backdrop cloths etc, other physical scenery was minimal - for example a bar table, a couple of chairs and a bed. The lighting by Aaron Smith at MSL was very fitting to the scenes, it helped to create a very spiritual  atmosphere when combined with the beautiful led stained glass window projections. Sound by Tom Maurice was spot on with no gremlins, drops or mics left on after leaving the stage, the balance between orchestra and cast was nicely done with neither drowning out the other in dialogue or vocals.

The choreography by Jane Wood was energetic, well executed and well thought out given the amount of bodies on the stage. A standout for me personally was definitely “Raise Your Voice”.  Musical Director Paul Firth certainly had a lot to do in this show (including a little cameo role!) – he perfectly controlled both his singing cast and his orchestra, there was attack and form from both – they sounded tight, slick and very professional.

Shirley Harrison as Mother Superior is perfect, her facial expressions and inflections in both her dialogue and vocals made me genuinely feel for her. She delivered some great one liners with Monsignor O`Hara ( Paul Ryan).  Rob Haslam as Curtis was mean and slimy , I thoroughly enjoyed the visual antics from him with his side kicks TJ (John Harrison), Joey (Jon Crebbin) and Pablo (Nick Ward). When those three performed their vocal  number together the audience loved them, each character stood up well against the other and I have to give a special mention to Nick Ward for staying completely in strong accent and physicality for his character.

The Nuns as a whole were fabulous, they all brought great energy and verve to their characters, I don`t want to single any single one out for a mention because they were all so strong and vibrant and such a team on stage – it was obvious that every single person on stage was thoroughly enjoying themselves and had completely immersed themselves in their characters. Samuel Maurice as Sweaty Eddie showed off his acting skills with a full well rounded characterisation complete with whiney voice and excessive sweat problem, yet he still managed to make us like him.  Kayleigh Ann Strong brought us a sassy Deloris Van Cartier, she is an absolute powerhouse in her vocals and her dialogue was clear, she had some lovely chemistry on stage with Sam (Eddie) and she portrayed her characters softer side well when she was with all The Nuns in “Bless Our Show”.

Costumes by Charades Theatrical Costume Hire made this cast really sparkle and shine.

Thank you for inviting me. My guest and I thoroughly enjoyed your performance which would have looked at home on any West End stage.

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