Theater Review: Sister Act

The sisters. Photo by Joan Marcus.

They Rock the House -- of God, That is
By Lauren Yarger
When crass wannabe singer Deloris Van Cartier -- like the jewelry, she tells us -- witnesses her boyfriend/promoter commit a murder and finds herself at the top of his hit list, what’s a girl to do?

Well, if this is Sister Act, the hit movie starring Whoopie Goldberg or the new Broadway musical she is producing based on the film, the girl goes undercover in a convent with a bunch of unsuspecting, unworldly, wannabe-singer nuns. Chaos, fun and a lot of good singing ensue.

Police officer Eddie Souther (Chester Gregory) comes up with the plan to protect the girl he had a crush on in high school until she can testify and put Curtis Jackson (Kingsley Leggs) away for good. Mother Superior (played with great comedic flare by the super-talented Victoria Clark) reluctantly agrees after Monsignor O’Hara (Fred Applegate) tells her a hefty donation from the police might postpone having to sell the financially struggling parish and split the nuns up.

Mother is concerned about Deloris’ influence on the cloistered sisters, however, especially the impressionable Mary Patrick (Sarah Bolt) and postulant Mary Robert (Marla Mindelle). She puts the lounge singer where she's sure she can do no harm: in charge of the really pathetic-sounding choir headed by Sister Mary Lazarus (Audrie Neenan), but the plan backfires. Deloris trades in hymns for a more rocking repertoire and suddenly the nuns are bopping, hitting the rafters with notes they didn’t know they had, packing in the crowds and their donation dollars and attracting media attention which might lead Curtis right to Deloris.

Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (with additional material from Douglas Carter Beane) keep the book pretty close to the movie script (written by Joseph Howard) and employ lots of good humor. They overdo the “nun’s are stupid and uninteresting” joke, however, and one scene, where Curtis’ henchmen, Joey (John Treacy Egan), Pablo (Caesar Samoyoa) and TJ (Demond Green) sing about seducing the sisters, really crosses the tasteless line.

Jerry Zaks directs the show at almost break-neck speed.. Perhaps that’s because there are a lot of great songs by Alan Menken to get in around the plot. He writes a really nice score full of different sound styles with a few ballads to show off Miller’s elasticity and high-belt ability. Glen Slater’s lyrics are simple, but are fun and do a nice job tying the emotions and plot.

Anthony Van Laast over choreographs (enough with the arm and hand motions already…) and costume designer Lez Brotherston, obviously frustrated with the black and white habits, invents sparkly additions for the nuns to wear that rival those of Deloris and her lounge backup singers (Kashidra Scott and Alena Watters). There also are some clever break-aways for Eddie. Designer Klara Zieglerova creates a variety of slide-into-place sets, including the colossal stain-glass church with a “Holy Crow!” sized statue of the Virgin Mary that joins in the action.

It’s entertaining, if overdone. Catch it at the Broadway Theatre, 1681 Broadway, NYC. Discounted tickets are available at http://www.givenik.com/show_info.php/Masterworks/290/individual.

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