Sister Act

This was the first time I had seen the musical “Sister Act” although I have seen the film on many occasions. The plot follows a similar story line but does not include the original songs featured in the film, however this did not at all spoil my enjoyment of this show.

Directed by Stephen Hughes- Alty this was an outstanding production from Southport Spotlights that contained plenty of well sung upbeat numbers, good acting and plenty of comedy. The talented cast gave their all with lots of energy, enthusiasm and teamwork they also appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely. There were no weak links in this large cast and all the musical numbers were performed excellently by all. There were a number of outstanding performance which I would like to highlight which included Lauren Murphy who more than met the challenge in the central role of Deloris Van Cartier playing the part with confidence, and exuberance, her comic timing and renditions of her musical numbers were excellent which are all very important in this pivotal role. Marie Orr as the Mother Superior invoked authority but was also able to give an air of disbelief, confusion and panic when everything appeared to be spiralling out of her control. Marie and Lauren played well together as two people with opposite aims in life. John Delahunty performed very well as Lt. Eddie Souther, Deloris’s old friend and police contact he played his part sensitively, the audience were rooting for him to get together with Deloris by the end of the show. Adrian Roberts as Curtis, Deloris’s gangster boyfriend was suitably untrustworthy and his henchmen played by Robbie Fletcher-Hill as T.J., Joseph Perree as Pablo and Chris Seery as Joey were superb as a threesome with great comic timing, their rendition of  “Lady in the Long Black Dress” was a big hit with the audience. Beth Milligan was spot on with her character of the shy postulant Sister Mary Robert and Jacqui Padden as Sister Mary Lazarus, Amanda Shaw as Sister Mary Patrick, Hilary Thomson as Sister Mary Theresa, Katie Watkinson as Sister Mary Martin of Tours  and Tom Hornby as Monsignor O’Hara all produced very different good comedic characterisations. The principle cast were well supported by the smaller roles  and the ensemble who  all performed very well with lots of energy and gusto, they also produced some nice characterisations of their own. Diction and clarity of words along with accents were very good which meant the story could be followed easily.

Choreography by Jackie Morris was dynamic and was more than suitable for the show, it was very energetically executed by the cast and looked effective, and the Orchestra led by Musical Director Charles Moss played excellently supporting the cast well and enhancing the production. The set, props sound, lighting and costumes were first-rate making a good platform for the cast to perform on, well done to all the back stage crew.

Congratulations to Stephen Hughes–Alty and everyone involved in bringing this outstanding production to the stage, Thank you for inviting us we had a very enjoyable evening, I hope to see you for your next production.
 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.