Sister Act

From the opening number to the last notes of the finale ultimo, this ‘Sister Act’ was a joyous opportunity for a large, mainly female, talented company to sing and dance and make the audience jump to their feet in a tremendous standing ovation that was well deserved. The action is set in Philadelphia, where the heroine, Deloris Van Cartier, a small-time lounge singer with big ambitions, is dating a gangster. After she witnesses him killing a 'grass', the police arrange sanctuary for her within a closed order of nuns. This makes for a highly entertaining clash between the singer and the Mother Superior and her gradual acceptance, becoming one of a group of vulnerable, but also very ‘modern’ nuns.

Following a ‘seedy’ night club opening where we met Delores with the small cast of gangsters and a short inset scene where we discovered  the ‘cop Sweaty Eddie who was ‘sweet’ on Delores, we arrived at the Queen of Angels Cathedral and the order of ‘ not very musical’ nuns. CLOC had built an excellent set which had beautifully inset stained glass windows and flats with panels which when lit from within, looked wonderful. Here we met a huge cast of talented nuns, a serene (but not for long) Mother Superior, Monsignor O’Hara and an excellent team of ‘extras’ who dressed in ecclesiastical robes changed the scenes effortlessly allowing  pace and nonstop action.

A very good band was in the very capable hands of the MD...who could fail to dance to the upbeat, up tempo numbers? Over loud at times, I think they occasionally got  carried away with excitement and I felt it a pity that individual instruments had microphones as I am certain the excellent Sue Parker could have monitored the resonance of her own players.

Although there were outstanding performances from gangster Curtis, his thugs and from Eddie the nervous cop with a perspiration problem, the night belonged to Delores and the nuns. Inspired choreography from Lois Bennett gave every nun a chance to shine and excellent direction from Jeff Prescott drew every ounce of humour from the story. There was dynamic movement and dance, pathos and tears, high farce and comedy and a wonderfully well sung score. The costumes were excellent and the whole evening was a delight from start to finish. Congratulations to Jules Ashton who as Delores/Sister Mary Clarence gave an outstanding and emotional performance. Thank you CLOC for an excellent evening’s entertainment. This was a worthy choice to commemorate and celebrate your 100th production, many congratulations to you

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