SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL has landed in Sydney, praise the Lord! As most will know, this 2006 musical has evolved out of the 1992 huge hit movie Sister Act starring Whoopi Goldberg.
The scenario, set in the late seventies in Philadelphia, sees a very worldly wise cabaret singer Deloris Van Cartier, running away from her ungrateful, sleazy boyfriend Curtis Shank after seeing him shoot in cold blood a man that they believe ratted on them to the cops. Fearing for her own safety Delores turns up at a police station to find that the officer at the desk is Eddie who she was good friends with at school. Eddie asses the situation and decides that the best thing for Deloris toi do is go ‘underground’ and be part of the witness protection program. He arranges for Deloris to ‘get to a nunnery’, a convcnt quirkily titled The Holy Order Of the Little Sisters Of Our Mother Of Perpetual Faith. The perplexed Deloris is greeted by a highly circumspect Mother Superior. Let the fun begin!
As is the case with all the big musicals (the pundits who have splashed out big money to see the show would want their money back) the production values are just awesome. I am convinced that pundits who save their hard earned money to buy tickets to a couple of the big shows every year would ‘storm the barricades’ and ask for their money back if the sets and costumes (Morgan Large), the lighting (Tim Mitchell), sound (Tom Marshall), wigs, hair and make up (Sam Cox) et al weren’t terrific.
And it is also the case that the pundits would ‘riot’ if the cast didn’t have a few stars, that the cast didn’t have great voices and give big performances, that there weren’t some big solo numbers, as well as some great company numbers. And then, of-course the orchestra, hidden away in the pit, flawlessly playing the score.
This production, directed by Bill Buckhurst with choreographer, delivers fully on all these expectations, these promises.
The big drawcards; Casey Donovan as the loudmouth, sassy survivor Deloris, Geenevieve Lemon as the icy, circumspect Mother Superior who warms to Deloris, and Rhonda Burchmore as the archly conservative Sister Mary Lazarus who is ‘swept away’ by the earthy soul music that Deloris brings to the choir. In the other principal roles, Raphael Wong is just terrific as officer Eddie as is Bianca Bruce as the perky, ever enthusiastic Sister Mary Patrick and James Bryer plays a good villain in the role of the villain. The supporting cast/ensemble are all fine.
During the show a medical emergency took place. A few rows ahead of us, a lovely young woman had a full scale epileptic fit, perhaps triggered the stage lighting. Chaos ensued and staff came rushing down, one with a defribilator, another with a wheelchair. Through this medical emergency, somehow the performance continued, (the performers weren’t looking in our direction), with thankfully just a few minutes or two before interval. The young woman was treated and stabilised, and and escorted from the theatre in a wheelchair.
The emergency cast a shadow over Act 2. Yet another case, as if we needed it, of how unfair life can be. A young woman’s experience of going to the theatre with a close friend, having great A Reserve seats, and has her great night out whipped out from underneath her, summarily wrecked by the horribleness, I can’t think of a more descriptive word, of a full scale fit. As the great Elton John lament of a song, ‘Song for Guy’ goes and trails away- Life…life…life…I hope that she can get to see the show again and enjoy it without incident.
To end on a brighter note, SISTER ACT THE MUSICAL is great fanciful, irreverent, escapist entertainment. It of-course gets too saccharine at the end..but, again, that is to be expected.
And it is impossible to match that great whoosh of energy which emanates from the performers of a big musical, especially in the big finale. Wow, if only one could bottle it! Or as the old Rob Reiner joke goes, ‘I want some of that’. I’m putting that order in now! I don’t care how much it costs!
SISTER ACT A DIVINE MUSICAL COMEDY which premiered in October 2006 in Pasedena, California and based on the hit 1982 movie, with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater and book by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, is currently playing the Capitol Theatre. The show moves in November to Melbourne’s Regent Theatre and then in February next year to the Lyric Theatre at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
Pics by Ben Apfelbaum
http://sisteractthemusical.com.au
