Sister Act The Musical

Sister Act – BOS Musical Theatre Group

Sister Act is a heart-warming feel-good, comedy based on the 1992 film of the same name, starring Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris and Maggie Smith as Mother Superior.   BOS Musical Theatre Group, under the direction of Christian Slingsby and his hardworking production team, have risen wonderfully to the challenge of bringing this dazzling musical to life taking us right back in time to 1970s Philadelphia with a throbbing heart of soul music.

Our story centres around the self-named Deloris van Cartier (Chantelle Gill) an ambitious nightclub singer with dreams of success and stardom, whose life is changed forever when she witnesses a murder.

Deloris is auditioning for her married boyfriend Curtis Jackson (George Tompkins.) at his nightclub ‘The Velvet Club,’  accompanied by her backing singers (Natasha Townsend, Charlotte Lenton, Clare Allen-Evans and Tina Chandley.)  

As soon as she began to sing, you knew that Chantelle was born to play this part.  Sassy and confident, in shimmering pink sequinned mini-dress and boots, she powered through her opening number ‘Take Me to Heaven’ desperately trying to convince Curtis of her potential.  Curtis gives Deloris his wife’s bright blue fur coat as a Christmas present but Deloris’s self-belief that she will become a star one day just like her heroine Donna Summer forces her to confront Curtis in the alley which changes her life forever.  There, Deloris witnesses Curtis execute one of his gang and realises, to her horror, that she could be next.  

At the police station, Deloris meets Eddie Souther (Aaron Carpenter) and realises he is an old school friend who she nick-named ‘sweaty Eddie.’  I liked how Eddie became more nervous around Deloris knocking over the mugs on his desk reverting to the clutzy teen he once was. It was obvious that he had a crush on her.  Eddie must hide Deloris and he has the perfect place – the Queen of Angels Convent. 

At the convent, The Mother Superior and Monsignor O’Hara (Stuart Bull) are discussing the ever-dwindling number of worshippers that are forcing the church to close which will result in the nuns being retired or being reassigned to other convents. 

Natasha Connor was brilliant as the sarcastic, sceptical Mother Superior and her outrageous facial expressions perfectly illustrated just how she felt about this new member to her convent.  Her first meeting with Deloris was hilarious with each being equally judgemental of the other. 

Deloris is dressed in a ‘penguin dress’ and goes to join the nuns.  We quickly picked up on their unique personalities. The overly enthusiastic Sister Mary Patrick (Lauren Charles Myers) like bottled sunshine whose quirky optimism provided much of the humour, the shy sweet-natured Sister Mary Robert (Beau Williams) an uncertain postulate too nervous to answer back and too naïve to understand Deloris’ risqué references and Sister Mary Lazarus (Sabrina Reeson) sarcastic and seen it all with a passion for punishment and hard work. 

Deloris, now known as Sister Mary Clarence, find the nuns harsh way of life challenging and cannot understand what they find so good about it and sneaks out to a local bar.  In a hilarious scene, Sisters Mary Patrick and Robert follow her and are overwhelmed by the jukebox and swirling lights.  Trouble lurks however as Curtis’ boys are at the bar and she realises that she has put herself in danger.  

A furious Mother Superior puts Deloris into the discordant, tuneless choir where she believes she will not cause trouble.  Deloris takes the nuns under her musical direction and soon has them singing hymns in a gospel style using her nightclub influence.

The nuns perform at the next mass and much to Mother Superior’s horror, segue way from high church Latin, into an upbeat soulful version of Deloris’ nightclub song complete with choreography!  This new daring modern style is a massive hit, and the church is packed to the rafters, much to the delight of Monsignor O’Hara and his ever-swelling collection plate. 

However, all this publicity is putting the convent in the spotlight, and Curtis and his hapless henchmen are hot on her heels looking for retribution.  Deloris herself discovers that her dreams of fame and stardom are not as important to her as friendship and sisterhood and a willingness to sacrifice everything even her own life. 

Some strong performances from the principals.  Aaron Carpenter as the lovelorn Eddie was sweet and nervous around Deloris afraid to show his true feelings for her.  I loved his dream sequence transforming, with the help of the down and outs, into the coolest guy at the time John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever in white suit and red shirt, and then, heartbreakingly transforming back into his police uniform.    

George Tompkins as gangster Curtis and his gormless goons TJ (Jamie Shave), Joey (Oliver Norman) and Pablo (Phil Mills) provided much of the humour in their hilarious renditions of 70s themed songs with backing singer style choreography.  Curtis got very menacing towards the end and deserved his comeuppance at Eddie’s hands.  The hoodlums singing ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’ was a definite highlight. 

Monsignor O’Hara was played with a lilting Irish brogue by Stuart Bull.  I loved his dad dancing along to the boogieing nuns and his gentle reasoning with the adamant Mother Superior also the way he talked to the audience like a church congregation.  

Sister Mary Patrick is always a fun part to watch, and Lauren Charles-Myers attacked the role with gusto her face never dropped from her constant smiling I’m sure her cheeks ached afterwards. Beau Williams as Sister Mary Robert captured the very essence of this conflicted young soul.  I loved her watching shyly from the sidelines then suddenly bursting into the spotlight.  Her song ‘Life I Never Led’ where she listed all the mundane activities she would never do if she decided to take the veil was powerful and emotional.  She sang with a pure heart, her voice building in strength as she went through her crisis in faith which eventually gave her the strength to stand up to Mother Superior. 

The nuns were wonderful especially in the glorious rafter raising ‘Raise Your Voice’ where the delighted nuns discover their passion for singing and the power of harmony.  Also, the scene where they all nervously ambush Deloris to give them a blessing for their upcoming ‘pope gig’.  Each little solo was beautifully performed and Deloris herself made it a poignant insight into just how much of an impact being in the convent had on her. 

Special mention to Jamie Shave as the naive TJ with a goofy personality and a nervous giggle strong enough to strip paint, he oozed charisma whenever he was on stage. His dancing and singing reminded me of a young Mick Jagger as he strutted around.

The real 'sister act', however, is the powerful presence of real-life sisters Chantelle and Natasha.   Natasha was outstanding in the role of Mother Superior.  Her exquisite vocals were truly heavenly, and her comic timing was spot on.  Her desperate plea to the man upstairs in ‘I Haven’t Got a Prayer’ as she ruefully lamented the influence Deloris was having on her once peaceful convent was masterfully done and she wrung every ounce of comedy out of the lyrics. 

Chantelle lit up the stage as Deloris, but never once hogged the limelight letting all the other characters shine.  She showed she could go from sassy arrogance to sweet humility as her character developed and grew, ultimately realising her life had been a sham until she gained the trust and friendship of the nuns and the respect of Mother Superior.  Her powerhouse vocals showed dynamic energy especially in ‘Fabulous Baby the reprise’ and sweet humility in ‘Sister Act’ where she realised who loved and needed her.  Her scene on her knees with Curtis’s gun to her head turning the lyrics into a prayer was very powerful. 

The set was a combination of projections reflecting, amongst others, a back street alley and the police station.  I was impressed with the rolling video as Curtis and the gangsters walked down the street.  The simple wooden staging for the nuns was built in house which also featured hand-painted stained glass windows.  I was pleased to see a vintage telephone and TV used in various scenes. Set changes overall were smooth and mostly executed behind the curtain so dialogue disguised most noises.  Lighting was used well to create the opening nightclub scene and as projected gobo stained-glass windows.  Sound was on the whole good but was a little too loud at times with an unbalance of voices and the occasional missed mic cues - but with over 20 microphones this is understandable. 

Costumes were consistently 70s themed, including Deloris’s outfits especially the showstopper Donna Summer white dress and fur, the gangsters’ outfits and American police uniforms. The challenge of designing and creating the nun’s sparkly tunics must have been a mammoth task but Rachael Hockmeyer rose to the challenge, with other nuns’ habits and other costumes loaned or sourced by cast. 

Music was provided by a recorded track which provided its own challenges for timing and accuracy, so it was good to see Musical Director Becky Taylor front of stage ensuring musical cues.  It was obvious the hard work and effort that had gone into coaching the cast in this pacy score. 

Choreography from Clare Allen-Evans was fantastic with the nuns executing complex hand jiving and intricate movements across the stage as they weaved in and out creating patterns. I also loved the 70s boy band themed choreography from the gangsters. 

Well done Christian Slingsby in your debut solo directing role – you’ve really captured the energy but also the emotional central theme of the show.  It is obvious that this has been a true labour of love using your own experience of the show as a guide and you’ve taken on every aspect of the creative process.

Thank you for the lovely welcome from Christian and the backstage tour afterwards.  It was a pleasure to meet the cast and chat to Producer, Lucy Potter and Claire the choreographer about their involvement in the show. 

The programme was packed with lots of detail about the show and some good cast bios and will be entered into the NoDA programme competition.

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