Sister Act

There’s something about singing and dancing nuns that makes people smile. In fact it’s odd that there aren’t more musicals featuring them, as it’s a strange yet winning juxtaposition of images on the stage. But it still has to be done well to work, and that’s what Lewes Operatic have done here: a “fabulous baby” all singing, high energy, commitment filled singing and dancing extravaganza, telling the story of the larger than life Deloris Van Cartier and how she affects everyone she comes into contact with.  

Kate Harrison portrays a fully realised super Deloris with the American soul accent never dropping, leading the whole show with glittering energy. She sets a high energy pace for the whole show, leading in all her scenes. The dynamics between her and her friends and with Mother Superior are clear and real. Her voice is also wonderful, giving a soul ‘oomph’ to all her songs. Kat Casterton and Maddie Phelan are her two closest friends as Sister Mary Patrick and Sister Mary Robert respectively and together they are super funny almost as naughty schoolgirls. Maddie Phelan’s vocal quality is sublime, so pure and clear: all the nuns are pitch perfect, which must have made the opening where they are actually supposed to sing badly very difficult indeed! Alison King is great as the grumpy Sister Mary Lazarus and has some brilliant facial expressions in all her scenes. Ian Foster is brilliant as the Monsignor, equal measures enthusiastic and naive, speaking to the audience as the congregation with the confidence of someone leading a Church service. His childlike enthusiasm especially about the fundraising and his comic timing in his one liners, such as: “get off the cross, we need the wood” was guffaw funny.  

All the cast did really well: every heart went out to Eddie (Chris Hodges) singing ‘I could be that guy’ as he fantasised about being more than a friend to Deloris, and Curtis (David A Nicholles) and his gang were an absolute hoot in ‘When I Find My Baby’ - the song about killing Deloris when they find her that really shouldn’t be funny but is truly hilarious. The choreography for the men in both this scene and their homage to ‘Float On’ with how they would seduce a Nun in ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’ is hilarious, including an impressive handstand into “the Worm” from William Morley as TJ. The absolute standout performance of the show was Michelle Dennis as Mother Superior: she shone, inhabiting the role completely with deference, humour, vulnerability, defiance and grace. Her stunning portrayal gave us a Mother Superior to feel so much empathy for, faced with this new creature: Deloris, who challenged her very being just by being who she was, not through any intention. The scenes between them crackled with energy, not with hostility but with beautiful layers of performance showing reluctant respect between the streetwise soul diva and the lady in charge of leading humble service to God. That clash of almost Titan proportions that gradually became friendship in the end was such a wonderful relationship change to witness happening on stage between them. Michelle gave such an emotional performance, it was actually more enjoyable than the reserved held back performance this role can often be played as. Her vocals in both quality and emotion were equally superb. 

There is everything to love about this production. The live orchestra were super, including some lovely lead guitar riffs evident at points; the choreography really worked: choreographing nuns in habits must be tricky as it would have to be mainly arms due to the clothing, yet in the end scene all the foot movements could be seen in perfect time which was amazing. Costumes are another strength with this company: the several nuns outfits including their glittery performance outfits; the extrovert wardrobe of Deloris; the very clearly seventies wear for the men; all worked brilliantly. 

The staging worked really well, the projections of the stained glass windows onto the black side panels facing the audience were a lovely touch in the Church and Convent scenes. The follow spots did an amazing job at the front of the stage, never letting people out of their light. The company had been faced with significant challenges when they moved into their venue, forcing them to redesign scenes, scene transitions and all the lighting, at the drop of a hat. They should absolutely be commended for their flexibility and pragmatism in all of this, as apart from the scene changes being a little longer than you might expect due to not being able to have curtain so that action could continue in front of the scene change which would have been happening behind the curtain, nobody in the audience would have known there had been any problems. That they managed to do this is fantastic, showing the strength of commitment of every single person involved. 

This is such a great show and although some scenes are fabulously funny and others slightly less, a song with the rhyming line of “everybody transubstantiate” has to be admired, and the gang of men singing their seduction song including about stigmata: “I’ll show you mine if you show me yours” has to be one of the funniest ever lyrics. Whether you are an avid follower of the show or this is your first encounter: this is really top quality. Huge congratulations to Director and Choreographer Collette Goodwin, MD Matt Casterton and every single member of the cast and crew and company, for a superb production which will long linger in the minds of the audience, who will smile at the memory. 

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