Sister Act

The musical version of Sister Act follows the story of the 1992 movie but with a score written by Alan Menkin and Glenn Slater. It sees Deloris Van Cartier witness a gangland murder and whilst in hiding in a local convent, she takes over the dull choir rehearsals and turns tone deaf nuns into singing sensations.

The set and lighting plot were simple but the performances were what shone through in this production together with plenty of energy and drive with every cast member giving their all. Ensemble pieces were all well performed and supported by a very good orchestra.  The costumes were also very good and suitably over the top with sparkle in the finale.  

The gang members in pursuit of Deloris played by Nick Thompson (Joey), Sam J. Scott (TJ) and Matthew Lowery (Pablo) gave good character performances and gave each one of the gang a different personality, their rendition of “Lady with the Long Black Dress” was very good. The gang leader Curtis was portrayed with perfect gangster gravitas by Lawrence Chadwick; he made an impeccable bad guy. Mark Lloyd portrayed Monsignor O’Hara with a super Irish accent and a loveable persona, his comic timing was excellent. To complete the line-up of male principals Michael Brabbs gave an excellent performance as Eddie, the cop who secretly loves Deloris: he was believable as the downtrodden cop and his rendition of “I could be that Guy” was superb.

This show is a vehicle for strong female talent and this production certainly had that in abundance. The sisters were a delight, singing and dancing their way through their numbers with enthusiasm a plenty. All of the numbers performed by the sisters were excellent but the rap section in “Raise Your Voice” by Anne Malpass as Sister Mary Lazarus was outstanding and extremely funny.

Amy Bagnall gave a first-rate performance as the young, naïve postulant Sister Mary Robert; her interpretation of “The life I Never Led” was superb. The role of the Mother Superior is pivotal to the story and the success of the show and this was in the safe hands of Ann-Marie Clayton; Ann-Marie’s acting and vocal performances were flawless. Her performance of “I Haven’t Got a Prayer” brought the house down.

Of course the musical revolves around the sassy, wise cracking Deloris and Deborah Taylor Smith threw herself into the role with cracking vocals. Deborah is a powerhouse of a vocalist and I was surprised to hear that acting was new to her, it wasn’t apparent as she gave a super performance.

This was certainly a feel good show with the energy and enjoyment of the cast flowing into the audience and the finale (beautifully signed by Callum Stuart) bringing everyone to their feet. Congratulations to Helen and David; I don’t know if our souls were saved but we certainly left the theatre feeling good!

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