Sister Act

Sister Act is a real fun-filled show which needs to have a good production team as well as a good cast who can cope with all the singing, acting and dancing which this calls for.

LIDOS hit the right buttons on all parts and to quote one of Delores’ lines, “when she took it up a notch, the whole cast took it up a notch.”

Right from the word go, we knew this was going to be a hit, why, you may ask?

LIDOS always produce hit shows, whether they be musicals or pantos and this one was no different.

For any society to produce Sister Act they need to have someone who can play Delores; she needs to be a great singer and needs to be able to belt out all the great numbers in this show, not an easy task, especially when playing this part night after night. LIDOS had the perfect actor for this role in the guise of Kelly Amy Johnson; she could certainly sing the songs as well as act this role with apparent ease and the audience loved her.

Another big role in this show is that of the Mother Superior, she has some tough songs to get over the footlights as well as delivering the lines, Jane Ellaway was another perfect casting, her scenes with Delores were outstanding, and, although much of the time they were quite serious both Jane and Kelly Amy were able to show their comedic skills too.

When Delores runs for her life she meets an old school chum, Eddie Souther, or as she calls him, Sweaty Eddie, step up James Preston, who was again able to deliver the goods. James has a fine singing voice, which coupled with his acting and dancing skills proved to be a real hit. Eddie has a difficult song to sing, I Could Be That Guy, which as well as singing the song, the actor also has to cope with wearing three different costumes which are pulled from him one by one, James coped admirably with this.

As the show opens Delores has a married lover, Curtis, who is basically a thug, Delores witnesses him murdering and informant which means she has to go on the run. This role calls for someone who is able to deliver the goods in both acting and singing skills, again LIDOS scored another hit by casting Abhishek Roy in this part, he was not just good, he was also excellent.

Curtis also has three “henchmen” in his camp: TJ, Joey, and Pablo, who were a sort of modern-day Three Stooges. Any younger members reading this may need to Google these characters. Tom Wilkin, Ross Tonkin and Matthew Colley were hilarious; they worked extremely well together, especially in their number, Lady in A Long Black Dress which brought roars of laughter from everyone in the audience.

In the convent there are a good number of characters, all of whom helped to create this exceptional production, characters such as Sister Mary Lazarus, who, although starts as the choir mistress ends up rapping, Belinda Lindley proved to be a superb rapping Nun, who was loved by all.

When Delores ventures out of the Convent to close the bar across the road, she is accompanied by two of her compatriots, Sister Mary Patrick and Sister Mary Roberts. Mary Patrick is a real fun-loving Nun who always has a smile on her face, Nicole Connor was perfect in this role, she was bubbly, funny and could certainly hit the right notes. Mary Roberts is the young postulant who wonders whether she has taken the right road for her future, Kirsty Barnes fitted the bill perfectly, initially shy and naïve but soon blossomed when Delores took her under her wing, her song The Life I Never Led was outstanding.

As we all know although this show is mainly set in a Convent predominantly full of women, there is one man who also works there, this is of course Monsignor O’Hara, played to the full by Graham Siddle who was able to deliver a perfect Irish accent on every entrance.

All the principals were backed up by a full company who all worked so hard to bring this show to life by following the instructions of the production team.

I would not normally comment on the set of a production, as these are usually hired in; however, I note from the programme that this was not the case in this production. It had been designed and built in-house, and it was outstanding. Congratulations to Emily Middleton and Dan Dainter on their design and to Mark Smith and Gary Loughrey on their construction.

Emily Middleton, Sean Gleeson, Emma Tempest and Donna Wells must all be very pleased at the final result of their production, and so they should be.

Congratulations to everyone involved.

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