Sister Act

If you wanted a ‘feel-good factor’ evening out, then Sister Act was it! The story tells of Deloris Van Cartier as a nightclub singer who needs to go into hiding after witnessing a murder, and where better to hide than in a convent!

It is a show based around female characters, and Lorna McIntrye, as Musical Director, had worked very hard teaching harmonies which were well performed by everyone involved. The chorus of nuns certainly thrilled the audience with their musical contributions.

Hannah Turrell, as Deloris, was certainly the star she was billed to be, her vocals never wavered, and she continued to stay in character throughout, bringing great energy to the role.  Lindsay Sparks held the story together displaying all of her experience as Mother Superior. The other named nuns all blended well as a group, each with their individual characteristics, however, I must make special mention of Amber Rose Suggars as the young Sister Mary Roberts, she certainly knows how to perform a song with a voice to match. This is a role that was being shared, and I’m sure that the performance from Maddy Jones on the other performances would be equally as impressive.

This is a show where the men are lurking in the shadows for most of it, however, there were good performances from Dylan Reed and Rhys Dempster, along with Paige May, as the three ‘henchmen’, delivering a good helping of humour to the script. Mention too of Callum Beckett as Eddie Souther, Andrew Britton as the villainous Curtis Shank and Helen Donnelly asReverend O’Hara, all coming to the fore when needing to.

In a first for Tamworth, the musical numbers were accompanied by backing tracks, never an easy feat, however, the cast performed to them with expertise and no errors were obvious to the audience, well done. It was nice to witness a sound team who adapted the levels of sound to reflect what was going on on stage rather than set a general level. The dance numbers were taxing at times, but the cast certainly overcame any difficulty with great effect, obviously well drilled by the choreography team, led by Ami Radcliffe. The whole show was well directed by Jack Broughton, and everything seemed to happen without any fuss.

This was my first visit to see Tamworth Musical Theatre Company, and I really enjoyed what I saw. Congratulations to all involved with this production and I hope I get the opportunity to visit again in the future.

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