Saturday, October 15, 2016

Sister Act at HCT

Last night I went to see Sister Act, the musical based on the 1992 movie of the same name starring Whoopi Goldberg, which is the current production at Hale Centre Theatre. I really enjoyed the movie so I was hoping that the musical would be just as entertaining. Normally I am not a big fan of the current trend of turning popular movies into musicals because they seem so contrived but I think this adaptation is fantastic.  Like the movie version, the story involves a singer, Deloris Van Cartier  (Raven Flowers), who inadvertently witnesses her gangster boyfriend Curtis (Brannon Killgo) kill someone. She is placed in the Queen of Angels Convent to keep her safe until she can testify against Curtis and, as you can imagine, she wreaks havoc on the Mother Superior by taking over the choir. Unlike the movie version, it contains all new original songs by Alan Menken and they are quite good.  I actually really enjoyed watching this show and there are a few aspects of the production that really stand out.  First, Flowers gives a sassy and soulful performance that is just so much fun to watch (I saw her in the title role of Aida at the CenterPoint Theater and she was amazing). She has a voice capable of blowing the roof off of the theater and a larger-than-life personality that makes her ideally suitable for this role. I especially loved her dancing in the song "Raise Your Voice" when she is teaching the nuns how to boogie! Second, I loved all of the choreography, especially in "When I Find My Baby" and "Lady In The Long Black Dress."  In fact, Joey (Bryan Dayley), T.J. (Cameron Garner), and Pablo (Matthew Richards) just about steal the show with their leisure suits and disco moves and I laughed out loud, as did everyone around me, during both of those numbers.  I also really enjoyed "Take Me To Heaven" with the nuns.  Finally, I loved all of the costumes!  Monsignor O'Hara (Oran Marc de Baritault) wears vestments that get more and more elaborate as the show progresses and what can I say about the nun's habits made of turquoise sequins for the finale? They are fabulous, baby!  Speaking of things that sparkle, did I mention all of the disco balls dangling from each entrance to the theater? So much fun!  I thoroughly enjoyed Sister Act and I highly recommend it for a fun and entertaining night out!  It runs at HCT until Dec. 3 and tickets may be purchased here.

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