Waiting for Sister Act to start, the five or so mirror balls hanging gave a subtle hint of what awaited us: dancing and sparkles. And it certainly delivered on that, in an ever-increasing volume.
What didn’t await us however was the songs from the original film. This has been a reoccurring complaint out there but I, personally, wasn’t put off by it; I was willing to trust that Oscar winning Alan Menken knows what he’s doing and give the show a chance. The songs were indeed very good; boppy and entertaining. I enjoyed them and was never phased that they were not those from the film.
Whilst my personal favourite was Raphael Wong as Eddie, the whole cast did a stellar job. Despite a less than packed audience they performed with energy and professionalism. For the first time in many shows I’ve seen, the sound mix at Crown was done well and honoured the singing. The band was tight and played the quality score perfectly.
But Sister Act did still leave me somewhat underwhelmed. First, to me, the stage was too dark. Initially this made sense for the first scenes in a neglected church but as time went on it didn’t change. Apart from the obviously dazzling numbers and despite the followspots on the performers themselves, the remainder of the stage could have done with some more candlepower to prevent me straining my eyes from the back of the stalls.
Sister Act relies excessively on the fact that people have seen the film. The characters are not developed particularly well and without knowing the Whoppi Goldberg flick you won’t appreciate the various nun characters the same way.
The plot is not conveyed strongly and struggles to get momentum in the first half of the first act. Then, when it comes to the nuns and their choir, they are initially terrible singers but all of a sudden after Deloris interrupts the group they are miraculously singing like a bunch of divas. There is almost nothing about the how of this critical transition and it feels like the show, after its slow start, is now impatient and wanting to get to the dancing and singing part.
Indeed that seems to be the point of Sister Act: singing. It’s all about the songs and the running joke that anything is funnier if it’s done by a nun. The fight scene at the end is another example of the skinny plot; it tries to be comedic but feels like it’s been inserted out of obligation to round out the story.
One unexpected and you might say sadistic highlight from our night was an issue half way through Act Two. One scene ended and the next one simply didn’t start! Then the curtain went down and an announcement explained that due to technical difficulties they were unable to continue. I heard someone at the desk behind me saying “OK, talk me through it”. Nearly 10 minutes later they were underway again and that was that. It was cool to experience something different. Nobody in the audience was perturbed and we got a fun reminder that it’s still a live show with humans and technology and anything can happen.
After it’s all said and done, would I recommend Sister Act? Yes, of course. It is a fun night out that will get you laughing and your foot tapping. Even if you need to know the film, the reality is that most of us do and this production still has plenty to enjoy.
