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| Image Source: ATG |
Format: Musical
Genre: Comedy
Date: October 10 2016
Location: Liverpool Empire Theatre, Liverpool, England
Based on the 1992 film, the musical version of Sister Act tells the same story as the movie, with only some minor changes at certain points. After Deloris Van Cartier (Alexandra Burke), a singer as part of an up-and-coming band, witnesses her former boyfriend and band mate Curtis (Aaron Lee Lambert) shoot a fellow band member to death in anger and frustration, Deloris confesses about the incident to the local police department. In order to protect her safety and identity, she is sent to the local church, with the idea of her simply hiding out there for a period of time. But her loud, boisterous and outspoken, yet largely positive, nature riles up Mother Superior (Karen Mann), whose quiet, conservative and traditional approach to the running of the church and the guidance of the nuns is a great contrast to the lifestyle of Deloris. Partly to protect her and partly in an attempt to try and change her ways, Mother Superior transforms Deloris into Sister Mary Clarence.
After a near-miss when Deloris/Clarence ventures to a local bar, with several nuns following her as back-up and with her arch-nemesis and co in attendance (she only avoids disaster when her identity is confused with that of a local drag queen), Mother Superior is furious, and feels that the only way to keep an eye on Deloris/Clarence is to take advantage of her musical skills and have her join the choir band with her fellow nuns. I should mention that the vocal skills of the nuns are like hearing cats screaming, or something akin to a bad X-Factor audition (sadly for the X-Factor hopefuls, the performers in this show are deliberately singing badly). That all changes when Deloris/Clarence joins them and, soon, they become a genuinely talented and exciting choir band, although Mother Superior is further ruffled by the fact that the band use not-so-religious dance moves and the use of funky instruments, which is far from the gentle, holy nature of regular choir music. Yet it brings in larger attendances for masses than ever before, so much so that they are set to perform in front of the Pope. However, Curtis and friends are edging ever closer to finding Deloris, due to her fame rising, and Mother Superior looks to seize any opportunity she can to remove Deloris/Clarence from the church, which helps to set up a climactic finale. Oh, and there's "Sweaty" Eddie (Jon Robyns), a local police officer who helps to protect Deloris, but who also has a secret to tell her, dating back to their days together in college.
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