Based on the movie, Sister Act is lighting up the Festival Theatre and lifting spirits with its irresistible energy and joy.
Review by Carla Caruso
I never considered myself much of a theatregoer until I went to the Ghost musical a decade ago.
While some turn up their noses at ‘pop-culture musicals’, I’m all for this form of entertainment, which makes theatre accessible to all and provides work for our local talent.
It’s funny that the first ‘pop’ musical I saw was Ghost, and now another musical revolving around a Whoopi Goldberg movie has rolled into town: Sister Act!
Casey Donovan shines in her first lead role in a musical, playing Deloris Van Cartier (Whoopi Goldberg’s character in the film). It’s a testament to Casey’s talent and tenacity that she’s gone from winning Australian Idol at 16 to being a household name, and still having her name in lights 20 years on.
It’s no easy feat trying to replicate Whoopi’s wit and sass from the 1992 movie onstage, but the First Nations artist pulls it off with ease. Then there’s those pipes of Casey’s. Talk about heaven-sent!
She’s joined by two other extraordinary talents to ever grace Australian stages—Genevieve Lemon as the droll Mother Superior (you’d also know her from movies like Runt and The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race) and Rhonda Burchmore as the spunky Sister Mary Lazarus. A highlight was seeing Rhonda, a young 64, break into a hip-hop number during the musical.
For the uninitiated, Sister Act is set in Philadelphia in 1977 and revolves around nightclub singer Deloris, who’s forced to take refuge from the mob in a convent. She ends up transforming the (off-key) convent choir into a soulful chorus, complete with a Motown repertoire, saving the convent from being sold. However, the sudden celebrity of the choir, naturally, risks Deloris’ whereabouts being exposed.
One big difference from the film is that the musical features an entirely new score, composed by Alan Menken (famous for Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid), with lyrics by Glenn Slater. Licensing issues prevented many of the movie’s iconic songs, including I Will Follow Him, from being used in the stage adaptation.
Having original songs is a slight detraction for the musical as it means there aren’t any well-known tracks you can sing along to. However, it does mean that there’s a bevy of new ditties for you to discover and become your new, favourite soundtrack.
(One of the new numbers, though—the darkly comedic When I Find My Baby—feels a little uncomfortable in the current climate. It’s sung by Deloris’ gangster lover and includes such lyrics as: ‘I’m gonna drown that girl! / Or disembowel that girl! / Or give her skull a big dent’.)
Another thing that’s different from the film is that the musical gives more attention to the supporting characters, especially the nuns, as well as introduces some entirely new characters.
This includes the role of ‘Steady Eddy’, a well-meaning albeit bumbling policeman who oversees protecting Deloris and admits to previously crushing on her in high school.
I know I wasn’t the only one in the audience to have a soft spot for his character (played by classical-crossover artist Raphael Wong). Eddy does one comedic outfit change during the musical that’ll have you LOLing in your seat.
Kudos also goes to Damien Bermingham, who plays Monsignor O’Hara—a priest who isn’t afraid to sport glittery, heart-shaped shades or get down on the dance-floor with Doloris!
The set design adds to the musical’s vibe, swinging from a moody, gothic cathedral (just in time for Easter) to an all-singing, all-dancing, full-blown disco, and beyond.
I was on a high after the show. Flicking through the theatre program, I was pleased to see ads for Back to the Future and Annie musicals touring Australia next … all hail the pop-culture musicals!
The Sister Act musical is 2.5 hours’ long and includes one 20-minute interval. The age recommendation is 10+. It contains adult themes, moderate language, gunshot effects, depictions of smoking onstage, and strobe-like effects.
Fun facts about the Sister Act musical:
- The Australian production of Sister Act was supposed to start its national tour in March 2020. However, due to the pandemic, it was postponed for two years. Hence, it’s been a long time coming for Adelaide fans!
- Whoopi Goldberg was a producer of the original Sister Act musical and made a special cameo appearance in the Broadway production in 2010, playing Deloris Van Cartier for a limited run. This was a special moment for fans of the film, as she reprised the character she made famous onscreen. However, for the majority of the musical’s run, the role of Deloris was played by other actresses.
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For more information and all enquiries, please visit the Adelaide Festival Centre website.
All photos supplied by the Adelaide Festival Centre.
At Play & Go Adelaide, we make every effort to provide accurate information to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication. We recommend confirming times, dates and details directly before making any plans as details may be subject to change.
As per all our Play & Go reviews, this is not a sponsored post and our review is done completely independently.
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