Sister Act @ Sunderland Empire

We all know the Whoopi Goldberg film about a Reno lounge singer trying to make it big by singing at the local gangsters club only to witness him 'offing' a snitch and having to go into protective custody as a nun while the case comes to court.  A great story made fabulous by the chart breaking songs used, which capture the feeling of San Francisco coupled with Motown classics and spirit-stirring gospel.  Indeed some would offer that it is this film that brought Whoopi to the attention of the whole world and with over $208 Million taken in box office receipts it's hard to argue.

This current touring production of Sister Act is glam, glossy and one of the most professional productions seen this year; the huge & detailed sets make expert use of Sunderland's expansive stage in bringing to life the church of St Katherine's (albeit moved to Philadelphia now) while the cast are brilliantly devoted (as one would expect given that most are 'nuns').  But, and I'm afraid it's a big but, there just wasn't a sense of wow in the whole story.  It seemed more like a series of sketches played out to accomplish the recounting of each chapter of the story rather than a flowing journey.  Scenes were a little predictable; set up, song - with a belting finale, applause, change scene, go again, without enough of a theatrical thread to join them up.

Maybe it was an over eagerness to include so many songs, or maybe by allowing the arrangements to almost overplay the undeniable choristic abilities of the actors that songs simply took too long, but for whatever reason things just seemed to rush from one song to another.

The audience were very much in two camps last night.  There were obviously those who clearly love the show and they knew it so well that they were starting to laugh at jokes or visual comedy before the actors had even began to deliver.  I am sure that they thoroughly enjoyed the show again and that's great, that's the magic of the theatre. 

The other camp seemed to be disconnected from what was happening on stage, treating the show as a series of song renditions and almost switching off if the song wasn't one which they knew or liked.  The songs in the first half were very much written to tell the story, but the absence of some of the well known movie tunes meant there were less hooks to keep the non-members of the fan club engaged.  It's very sad to say but there were even patrons in our row who took out their mobile phones and started texting.

Please don't get me wrong, this is an amazing production delivered by a truly wonderful cast and backed by gorgeous sets, but it just lacked the wrap around feeling of being immersed in a truly great story & script to place it up with musical royalty.

My advice is if you love great music & wonderful singing then get yourself there, if you are looking for a stage show true to the movie then best change your expectations or dig out the DVD and stay at home