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| HABIT-FORMING HIT: Patina Miller (center) & the cast of 'Sister Act.' Photo: Joan Marcus |
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Theater
Review
Hallelujah! Sister Act is surprise hit of season
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SISTER ACT
Book by Cheri & Bill Steinkellner
Additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane
Music by Alan Menken
Lyrics by Glenn Slater
Directed by Jerry Zaks
Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast
Broadway Theatre
1681 Broadway at 53rd Street
(212-239-6200), SisterActBroadway.com
Click here to download the review
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By David NouNou
This season has spawned a myriad of musicals based on movies, from delightfully wonderful ones to pure and utter dreck, starting with bona-fide crowd-pleaser like Priscilla, Queen of the Desert to such atrocities as Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark, Catch Me If You Can, and Wonderland. Thankfully, Sister Act, now playing on Broadway after a successful run in London, is a welcome surprise. It has been no secret that I loved Priscilla; I can now add Sister Act to my list of guilty pleasures. As for the rest, at the risk of sounding vulgar, you can just flush them. The similarity between Sister Act and Priscilla is that they both are there to entertain, and both do so in a grand manner. The difference is that Priscilla has a pre-existing jukebox score and Sister Act has a totally original score, and what a marvelous one it is indeed. From all the original musicals that opened this year, the score by Alan Menken (music) and Glenn Slater (lyrics) is by far the best from the current fare on Broadway, and is magnificently orchestrated by Doug Besterman. In a fair and just world, Sister Act should win Tony Awards for score and orchestrations. The songs range from classic disco to soulful Motown, and many will have you humming along with glee.
Originally the movie was set in Las Vegas in the 1990s, but it has now shifted to Philadelphia in the late 1970s to feature the fantastic Philly/disco-era sound. The story still revolves around Deloris Van Cartier (Patina Miller), who witnesses a murder and is sent to a convent to lay low and out of harm’s way from the killers. At the convent, she butts heads with the Mother Superior, the ever-wonderful Victoria Clark. Deloris earns the love and admiration of her sister nuns, and two in particular: Mary Robert, the meek (Marla Mindelle) and Mary Patrick, the jovial (Sarah Bolt), both of whom are adorable in their own way. As Deloris teaches them to become a chorus, she in turn learns about love, family, and humility.
Patina Miller as Deloris is gorgeous and possesses a beautiful, God-given voice. However, she lacks the grit of a Philly girl necessary for the part. She is sweet when she needs a rougher edge. She is a polished diamond, when in fact a diamond in the rough is called for. Picture someone like Whoopi Goldberg and you get the idea of what I am talking about. Victoria Clark as Mother Superior is perfect. In fact, she has some of the best lines in the show that are not trite and hackneyed, and her razor-sharp comic timing and delivery is priceless. She is a pro at work as usual.
Sister Act is a pure delight. However, by the middle of Act II, it starts petering out and runs out of original ideas. The book by Douglas Carter Beane and Bill and Cheri Steinkellner, and the direction by Jerry Zaks, all lose steam and start slacking off and are reduced to silly chases toward the end of the show. Up to that point, Mr. Zaks was bringing in a homer. What keeps the musical buoyant until the very end is the delicious score and disco sound, courtesy of Mr. Menken and Mr. Slater. They are the heroes and saviors of the musical, but overall Sister Act is an enjoyable evening that never fails to amuse audiences. Hallelujah! Sister Act is the feel-good musical of the spring 2011 theater season.
Published April 28, 2011
Reviewed at press performance on April 27, 2011
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