Sister Act (Beverley Knight)
Dominion Theatre - West End
(Review Complete)
"What a bad habit of sheer delight"
Review
What a heavenly night out at the Sister Act Opening! This has long been one of my favourite shows and it really lived up to every expectation I had.
The story is fun from the start. Singer Deloris Van Cartier is the girlfriend of Gangster Curtis Jackson. When she witnesses him murder someone, she has to go into hiding in a convent! There is plenty of room for fun as she teaches the tuneless nuns how to sing and dance with style. The money starts rolling into the church and Deloris is seen by Curtis on television as she performs with the Nuns in a news item. He and his gang try to capture Deloris by infiltrating the Nunnery - dressed as Nuns! - but their attempt is foiled by the Nuns and Curtis and his gang are arrested by Steady Eddie, Deloris’s old school friend who is now a cop. Everything ends well and Deloris joins the Nuns in their performance for the Pope!
The Wonderful Beverley Knight reprises her role as Deloris Van Cartier, giving a real powerhouse performance that sets the style of the show from the first moment. Ruth Jones lends a Welsh accent and great comic timing to the Mother Superior. One of my favourite characters, Sister Mary Lazarus the rapping Nun, is played by Lesley Joseph. She is husky and hip and absolutely hilarious! Singer Lemar plays gang leader Curtis. Not normally associated with performing in shows, Lemar is an excellent villain and his rendition of “When I Find My Baby”, backed by his gang is very funny. Steady Eddie, the cop who went to school with Deloris, is played by Clive Rowe. “I Could Be That Guy” which he sings on the table with 2 costume changes, is one of the big highlights of the show! All the Nuns are delightful with special mention to Lizzie Bea as Sister Mary Robert who absolutely smashed her song “The Life I Never Led”!
The Set is brilliantly light, looking like a church rose window in the Nunnery, and each different location is created with a few pieces of furniture. I love this simplicity and it means that the cast can seamlessly move everything around.
All in all it was an uplifting and joyous evening with the entire audience on their feet by the end! And yes, I did “Raise My Voice” during the finale!!
Reviewer Julia Rufey