Halleloo!
It sounds like a headline ripped straight off of The Onion: Broadway 2011: The year of the Nun. But it’s true! And I hereby am adding Sister Act to the top of that nun show list! We’ve already seen habit-wearing sisters in High, The House of Blue Leaves, and even downtown Off-Broadway in The Divine Sister, but the last (and flashiest) nun musical has made its mark: Sister Act the Musical (directed by Jerry Zaks, music and lyrics by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater). Filled to the brim with ecclesiastical humor and campy dance numbers, the show is 2.5 hours of pure delight. To those who are familiar with the original Sister Act movie (and who isn’t?), you won’t recognize the staple songs (rights issues, I’m sure), but the new ones Menken and Slater have written are even better.
Patina Miller and Marla Mindelle: Sing it, sister!
The story is basically the same as the movie: fast-talking singer Deloris Van Cartier (Patina Miller) is on the run from a mobster who is trying to find her – the police decide to hide her out in a convent. It turns out the convent is in serious need of a musical director, and Deloris educates the nuns in the ways of soul (here, disco) music. Hilarity ensues as habit-wearing sisters shake their stuff onstage.
A boisterous cloister!
Filling Whoopi Goldberg‘s shoes as nightclub singer Deloris Van Cartier is a difficult thing to do, and I don’t envy the task Patina Miller had in attempting to do so. However, she churns out a standout performance that had the audience at her feet. Miller’s voice is fantastic, and she sets a powerful tone for the show in the opening 2 numbers. As Mother Superior, Victoria Clark plays a bonerkill role with an appropriate dash of humor – adding just enough gravitas to keep the story moving, but not overdoing it. Also, demure Mary Robert (who turns out to be not-so-demure), played by Marla Mindelle, adds another powerhouse voice to the mix.
Victoria Clark: Serving modesty. Patina Miller: Serving body.
Sister Act is exactly what you think it will be: a large group of nuns singing and dancing to silly songs. And I couldn’t have asked for anything more! Sister Act is playing at the Broadway Theatre on 1681 Broadway in New York City.
