THE GRAND THEATRE, LEEDS – UNTIL 1 APRIL 2023
REVIEWED BY ELLIE WATSON
5*****
Based on the 1992 hit movie starring Whoopi Goldberg, Sister Act tells the story of Deloris
Van Cartier, a club singer, who is put into protective custody at a local convent after witnessing her gangster boyfriend commit murder. At first she has many run-ins with Mother Superior but soon her high enthusiasm and energy starts to influence the other nuns as she goes against traditional practice and uses her vocal talent to inspire the choir helping her to breathe in new life into the church but also blows her cover whilst doing this. However there are notable differences in the musical to the film, making this production stand apart from the hit movie.
Firstly I want to start this review by acknowledging that Lesley Joseph was taken ill just before the curtain came up, meaning that the star of the show was delayed, however Lori Haley Fox stepped into the role without much prior notice and did an amazing job as Mother Superior showing to the whole audience the skill and talent of covers and understudies in theatre.
Leading the show in the role of Deloris Van Cartier, is Sandra Marvin. Marvin was amazing with great vocal technique and brilliant stage presence. Her vocal ability was amazing and I could listen to her belt those songs out again, she effectively portrayed the character of Deloris. Another standout performance for me was Lizzie Bea, playing Sister Mary Robert. Bea’s portrayal was sweet yet lovable, having everyone root for her and her character throughout the musical. Her performance of “The Life I Never Led’ was OUTSTANDING, she did this song justice and her last belt note was amazing. The breath control needed to sustain this note that Bea managed to carry out is amazing and even when the whole audience had finished cheering and clapping for her, she was still holding on to this final note! AMAZING! She definitely did my favourite song in musical theatre justice.
It was also great to see Clive Rowe in this performance, best known for playing Duke in Tracy Beaker. He was Eddie Souther, the loveable policeman that has a great voice and made me laugh in his rendition of I could be that guy where his policeman outfit gets changed for a sparkly white jumpsuit. This solo number is really fun and enjoyable.
Everyone in this cast was amazing, from all the nuns with particular stand out performances
from Catherine Millsom as Sister Mary Patrick and Anne Smith as Sister Mary Lazarus, Graham MacDuff as the Monseigneur, to the 3 funny gangsters who are part of Jeremy Secomb’s character Curtis Jackson’s gang. These were Bradley Judge playing TJ, Tom Hopcroft playing Joey and Damian Buhagiar playing Pablo. These 3 were hilarious and I loved it every time they did a musical number, always making me laugh in my seat. I cannot mention everyone in the full cast but everyone did an amazing job and you could clearly see they were all enjoying their time on stage.
The set and costume by Morgan Large were amazing and helped that cast perform Alan Menken’s disco score with infectious energy that made you want to dance in your seat. The musical is fun and enjoyable to watch and I would definitely go again to see this. Tim Mitchell’s lighting design transforms this production and transforms the stage into a full on disco on scenes where this is appropriate and I love the use of the disco balls. The production was so good I could just sit back and relax and enjoy the musical. It is a crowd pleasing musical and has some amazing character developments throughout. It’s a wonderful night out at the theatre and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Overall in the words of the Sister Act cast, it was “Fabulous, Baby!