6 – 18 March
All nuns were blazing in this sizzling production directed by Bill Buckhurst and choreographed by Alistair David. By the end, an audience filled with the ‘spirit’ was on its feet for a thunderous rendering of Spread the Love Around and seemed, for a glorious few minutes at least, to be free of the woes of life.
Sister Act is a life affirming story suffused with suspense generated by the fate of wannabe singer Deloris van Cartier (Sandra Marvin), who is on the run after witnessing her murderous boyfriend dispatch a ‘squealer’. Placed in a convent and disguised as a nun for protection, Dolores encounters the incumbent Mother Superior (Lesley Joseph) who has to battle her own inner demons as she learns to cope with the loud-mouthed, freedom-loving entertainer within her flock.
Backed all the way by an 8-piece orchestra at the top of its game, conducted by Musical Director Neil MacDonald, the story unfolded at pace, tinged with all the sparkle that retro disco can deliver. That the cast appeared to have been hosed down with glitter by the finale was no less than utterly appropriate.
While there was a sense throughout that the band were in some danger of drowning out the lyrics, there were powerful vocal pyrotechnics to counter. Sandra Marvin’s Deloris could raise the dead with her fabulous range and earth-shaking delivery, while even she was in danger of being upstaged by the wonderful Clive Rowe as Steady Eddie, the cop with a conscience and a crush on his former high school friend.
In a blistering performance of I Could Be That Guy in which two sets of clothes are torn away from him, Rowe plumbs the depths of the bass range only to soar into sweet falsetto with absolute clarity and full expression not unlike Nat King Cole at his best.
The bad guys, Curtis Jackson (Jeremy Secomb) and his henchmen TJ, Joey and Pablo were always more comedic than threatening, while the nuns, led admirably by the superbly voiced Lizzie Bea as Sister Mary Robert, made for an amusing habit-attired ensemble, hand jiving and singing their way to notoriety under the guidance of their new voice coach Delores.
Joseph managed to puncture for the most part the straighter role of Mother Superior with a gloriously funny rendering of her solo I Haven’t Got A Prayer, while an impromptu breaking of the ‘fourth wall’ moment later won her much affection from a beaming congregation.
Morgan Large’s moving lightbulb grid backdrops added energy to the look of the show. And his circular coloured light arches straddling the stage worked well in conjunction with the circular stained-glass window motifs that gave a sense of place to the action.
Alan Menken’s score and Glenn Slater’s lyrics seem to be holding up well over time – you might say that from her song Within These Walls, Mother Superior’s pronouncements seem all too apposite for our times, ‘There’s no wrong or right, just wrong and wronger. People now are absolutely shameless.’
For sheer entertainment, this production of Sister Act has the glitz factor in spades, and is the foot-tappingly perfect antidote to the blues. We’ve been blessed.
★★★★☆ Simon Bishop, 8th March, 2023
Photo credit: Manuel Harlan
