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Sheila Hancock as the Mother Superior and Patina Miller as soul singer Deloris Van Cartier |
Sisters rise above clichés
SISTER ACT
London Palladium
NUNS doing stuff that you wouldn’t expect from nuns – it’s a pretty standard formula.
Through the ages, film and theatre have rejoiced in nuns that sing, nuns that dance, nuns that ask the Blues Brothers to save the orphanage, nuns that are actually men, nuns that are actually gay men, nuns that help families of singing children and their yodelling nanny escape from Nazi persecution... nuns, nuns, nuns and
so on.
Dress a woman (or a man) up like a penguin and the producers think they have a winner on their hands.
The latest who-would-have-thought-that-of-a-nun effort is Sister Act, based on the “nuns sing” soul movie from the 1990s starring Whoopi Goldberg, who produces this version at the Palladium.
It moved in after The Sound of Music and its team of, erm, nuns moved out.
Worryingly, the first 10 or 15 minutes are pretty awful, buried in forgettable disco numbers, and there is a dread that this is going to be a movie cash-in too far.
But, have patience children, it gathers steam with each scene, each set-piece dance routine and the steady hand of Sheila Hancock, playing within herself as Mother Superior but guiding this show to its best moments.
Such a controlled, admirable performer, no wonder her name comes first on the programme.
Patina Miller hits all the high notes in the lead role, Deloris Van Cartier, a soul singer who witnesses her hoodlum boyfriend shoot a man and then has to hide out in a convent to protect her from his thugs.
While incognito, she teaches the choir to groove, saves the creaking chapel and you can guess the rest.
A newcomer to the West End stage, Miller genuinely shines, as good a comedy actress as she is a powerful singer.
And despite being swamped in clichés, her army of nuns rise above this panto’s predictability, hastily wrapped up loose ends and the preachy everything-in-moderation lesson that you don’t need a razzle-dazzle disco dress to have fun.
Look out particularly for grandmum to eight Julia Sutton as Sister Mary Lazarus, a tequila toter who steals all the best lines.
It isn’t rocket science and the path to the convent is well beaten – but Sister Act has enough oomph and hen night excitement to hold its own.
On Tuesday, they were applauding till Whoopi herself decided to spin on stage and take a bow.
Until February 2010
CLICK HERE TO BOOK
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