Sister Act fills Mayfield pews with wimple-ful whopper of soul and comedy
The musical Sister Act is no Come From Away – but it is the kind of durable example of song and dance entertainment that Broadway is famous for.
The musical is taken from the smash 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie with songs added by Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, etc.), lyrics by Glenn Slater and a laugh-filled book from Bill and Cheri Steinkellner. The musical opened in America first in 2006 and shortly thereafter in the West End in London where it proved to be a whopper of a hit. It is estimated that Sister Act has been seen by 200 million people worldwide. It has just opened and is now playing until June 9 at the Mayfield Dinner Theatre.
Even if you are not one of those 200 million who took in the musical, you probably know the plot. Deloris Van Cartier (Katrina Reynolds) is plugging away as a semi-successful lounge singer. Unfortunately for her, she witnesses a mob murder, and in an effort to protect her the cops squirrel her away in a safe house – actually a cloistered convent. The unwilling proto-diva, now Sister Mary Clarence, finds herself chafing – surrounded by a group of women who know nothing of the world outside the walls and headed by the formidable Mother Superior (Susan Gilmour). When Deloris smells the incense, she charges, “Someone here is smokin’ weed!”
With a wimple full of sharp-one liners, the Sister proceeds to take a bored, tone deaf choir and turn it into a perky chorus line of R&B hip-shakin’ rockers. The result for the audience is an evening of unholy hilarity with jokes coming faster than the Pope can canonize saints. The newly-hip sisters become such a success they begin to fill the pews. However, their burgeoning fame attracts the attention of the very people the Sister is trying to avoid – the mob.
Menken’s accessible and tuneful ’60s-Philly-flavoured music helps a lot here – making full use of the funk. As usual, Van Wilmott’s Mayfield backup band provides a wall of great music including some soaring power ballads and the occasional big, brassy production number.
Reynolds’ Deloris is a sassy sinner with a developed comic sense and a strong voice that could wake the saints from their everlasting sleep. The actor is a vibrant stage presence filling the cavernous Mayfield hall with ever-lovin’ soul.
Gilmour’s Mother Superior is stern and unforgiving at first but even she is carried along by her holy-rolling rookie. The Edmonton based and Broadway star is given the show stopping song of a devout Sister, Here Within These Walls. Michelle Diaz is the jolly Sister Mary Patrick, Jill Agopsowicz is the sweetly shy postulant Sister Mary Robert (who strikes out of the sisterly hold and gets a killer anthem – The Life I Never Led) and Pamela Gordon is a hoot as the crinkly, sarcastic Sister Mary Lazarus.
There are a number of impressively big solos – particularly from the menacing bad guy Curtis (Michael-Lamont Lytle) who unleashes a big burnished baritone in When I Find My Girl and Aadin Church (Eddie Souther) a lonely cop who falls for Deloris and sings the plaintive I Could Be That Guy. Long a scene stealer, Garett Ross is a splendid Monsignor O’Hara, who has his doubts but becomes a very hip producer (and sometime performer) for the choir. Christine Bandelow’s choreography keeps things bubbling and Jim Guedo’s brisk and buoyant direction doesn’t miss a beat.
When those saintly sisters find their groove and start rockin’ to the Gothic rafters, God’s in his heaven and all is right with the world. Hallelujah!
Photos by Ed Ellis
