Sister Act

What a spectacle of colour, light and sound I was treated to last week by WMCS. They certainly know how to put on an outstanding production covering all the elements for a memorable evening. This was a first for me as, although I knew about “Sister Act” I hadn’t seen it either on film or stage. The story is simple about an up and coming stage performer who witnesses a murder by her boyfriend and is taken into the protection program and housed in a convent. An invaluable synopsis was provided in the program. The set was exceedingly clever and very impressive with some great stain glass window effects. The back stage crew led by Mark Winrow did a very slick job of changing the scenes live being very fast and efficient. The most spectacular part of the whole production was the wonderful array of costumes. I have seldom seen so many outstanding outfits which, bearing in mind the amount of time the stage was full of nuns, was even more incredible. My congratulations to Andrew Taylor (TAYLORED4U) and his team for their wonderful ideas, designs and colours which brought the whole stage to life. Add to this a superbly tutored chorus of nuns who sang and moved so well. Sadly I couldn’t hear any of the words of their songs and very few of them from Deloris but the music was bright, exciting and well worth listening to. The props and makeup team did a first class job, and overall the chorography and direction where excellent. Nicaela Whyte (Deloris Van Cartier) acted well and was convincing in her role. It is difficult to give a rave review when much of her dialogue and of course singing was accompanied by music which drowned out her words. Christine Taylor (Mother Superior) coped much better and gave one of the best performances of her life. She was outstanding. Vicky Scales (Sister Mary Patrick) also coped well and was a joy to both see and hear. Her acting skills where very polished and great fun, but for me the up and coming star of this particular production was Abbi Farmery. She is a young girl with a great future ahead of her. Her rendition of ‘The Life I Never Lead’ was beautiful. All the principles where well characterised especially Sarah Papouis as an exceedingly amusing nun, Tim Ede as the ‘baddie’, Alex Brown as the policeman and Andrew Taylor Monsignor O’Hara a priest with a difference.

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