Sister Act

For it’s 50th anniversary show the company decided to put on the upbeat and uplifting Sister Act. This show suited the demographic of the company well – with a large number of ladies for the Sisters chorus numbers, with excellent singing (eventually!), and enough men to fill the male character parts. Nicola Lilley as night club singer/murder witness Deloris van Cartier brought amazing energy and a belter of a voice to this huge role – truly “Fabulous, Baby!”. It was good to see Helen McKellar on stage in a principal role again as the Mother Superior – a role she was just made for. Her delivery of her songs, especially “Haven’t Got A Prayer”, her dialogue full of witty one liners and put downs and her interactions with Deloris were a delight. Excellent performances were given too by Dea Grime as the effervescent Sister Mary Patrick and Lynne Ward as the shy, introverted novice Mary Robert – her “The Life I Never Led” was particularly well delivered. Much laughter was engendered by Davina Smith as the sharp tongued choir mistress Sister Mary Lazarus. Strong performances were given by the two men representing the opposite ends of the moral system – Ken Smith as Monsignor O’Hara and Paul Woods as the gangster Curtis. Another strong performance was given by young Jamie Hadingham as Police Lieutenant Eddie Souther. Curtis’s gang of hapless mobsters – Sandy Duncan (TJ), Martin Carr (Pablo) and Ian Duncan (Joey) – added greatly to the comedy in the piece – especially their rendition of “The Lady in the Long Black Dress” which had the audience in stitches. The set, designed and constructed by husband and wife team Sandy and Jan Duncan, was beautiful as were the costumes. Movement by principals and chorus alike was of an extremely high standard. Thank you Elgin MT, you certainly did “Spread The Love Around” in this wonderful evening’s entertainment.

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