Theatre Royal Bath, 6-17 August
Words by Melissa Blease
Bringing one of the most iconic musical film comedies of the early 1990s to the stage is an ambitious task, to say the least. But various productions of Sister Act have toured around the world since 2009, picking up heaps of awards and massive congregations as it spread the good word.
This brand new outing – visiting Bath directly from the West End, written by Bill and Cheri Steinkellner (the team also responsible for scripting American TV sitcom Cheers), featuring original music by multiple award-winner Alan ‘Disney soundtrack’ Menken and celebrating a hymn book inspired by classic Motown, soul and disco – feeds a habit that ain’t gonna be broken any time soon.
For those not familiar with the plot, let’s have a quiet moment at the altar. We’re in Philadelphia circa 1978, and singer Deloris Van Carter wants to be as big a success story as her role model, Donna Summer. Deloris is, erm, ‘heavily involved’ with sleazy gangster and all-round bad boy Curtis. When Deloris witnesses Curtis’s involvement in a murder, the cops place her under a witness protection order in a convent, on the basis that this is the last place anybody would ever think of looking for her; indeed, it’s the last place Deloris would ever have expected to find herself in, too. As for the drab and dismal church choir full of superficially sombre nuns: well, we did establish that Doloris has musical ambition, did we not? And even if you don’t know the outcome of this tale, you can probably more or less read between the lines and take it from here yourself, all the way through to the redemptive conclusion.
While many audience members will undoubtedly bring memories or even expectations of iconic screen performances from Whoopi Goldberg, Maggie Smith and Harvey Keitel into the auditorium with them, Landi Oshinowo as sassy superstar-in-waiting Deloris, Wendi Peters as the uptight Mother Superior and Ian Gareth-Jones as cocky, controlling Curtis swerve away from copycat inspiration and bring their own personalities to the roles. And by and large, they carry this off with unflappable self-assurance… although it came as a surprise to see a far less-feisty-than-expected Peters giving us a far-less-acerbic-than-hoped-for Mother Superior.
Elsewhere, the supporting ensemble cast – the Sisters, of course (including a sweetly engaging performance from Eloise Runnette as Sister Mary Robert) alongside various gangsters, police officers, multi-tasking Swings, etc – all play their part in the crazy caper, as do the fabulous costumes, the pristine choreography and the lively live orchestra. And while the pace feels a little bit too slow at times and certain slapstick/comedy routines are slightly too heavy-handed/Keystone Cop-style clunky, the non-stop musical highlights keep spirits up throughout.
Compared to similar-era stage musical classics, it could be said that Sister Act lacks the emotional dynamism of, say, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, or the sharp wit of Book of Mormon. But that doesn’t detract from the essence at the heart of the Sister Act homily: a glittering, glamorous, slightly ridiculous spectacle, whimsically fanciful and extravagantly fabulous in equal measure.
Main image: Wendi Peters as Mother Superior and company. Photo by Mark Senior