The music in Sister Act is a generic mix of disco, soul, and gospel, and the book is so thin you can see through it but, in this production for Theatre Under the Stars, director Peter Jorgensen has done an excellent job of shining up this inferior material.
The 2006 musical is, of course, based on the 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg. We’re in Philadelphia in 1977-78. When a wannabe pop star named Deloris Von Cartier happens to see her gangster boyfriend Curtis murder a suspected informer, she’s put into an improvised witness-protection set-up and stashed away in a convent, where she turns the off-key choir into an entertainment sensation.
Kat Reynolds’s performance as Deloris, which is at the centre of this production, is as sparkly as the orange-sequinned dress costumer Christine Reimer has given her. Reynolds has a huge range and charisma to burn. One of my favourite passages came in the second act when Reynolds stood all alone — in a strapless, pink-sequinned jumpsuit this time — and belted out the musical’s title song in front of Malkin Bowl’s blue curtains: her confidence — and the generosity of that confidence — were awesome. But here’s the thing: because Reynolds’s Deloris doesn’t have a credible inner life, because Reynolds never really lets us see Deloris’s vulnerability, this production is missing a significant anchor.
For me, the real discovery of the evening is Andrew J. Hampton, who’s playing Deloris’s love interest, Eddie, the cop who puts her into witness protection. Hampton is a crooner: when he opens his mouth to sing, it’s like, “Oh yeah, baby! Fly me to the moon!” Eddie’s shy and a bit of a geek, but he wants to be cool and, in “I Could Be That Guy”, Hampton’s embodiment of Eddie’s hip but muted little dance moves is a joy to behold. A huge part of what makes this all work is that Hampton is delivering a strong acting as well as vocal performance: he shows us Eddie’s heart, so we pull for the character.
There’s solid work elsewhere, too. With her authoritative presence and skilled vocal delivery, Angela Donahue, who’s playing Mother Superior, is clearly the third pro in the cast. As postulant Sister Mary Robert, Alyson Vance nails her challenging solo, “The Life I Never Had”. And Amanda Lourenço is having a persuasively good time with the goofy Sister Mary Patrick.
With all this praise, what am I complaining about? Don’t worry, we’ll get back to that. But first, more praise.
Jorgensen has choreographed as well as directed this production and his choreography is a dream. In Act 1, when Curtis’s three henchmen (played by Jacob Sirois, Matthew Valinho, and Rodrigo PoMe) launched into “When I Find My Baby” — with the accompanying Temptations-like dance moves — it was the first time I really appreciated the polish of this production. And, in Act 2, Jorgensen has given the new, show-biz version of the nuns’ choir synchronized hand choreography, which looks fantastic against their black robes.
I’ve already sung the praises of Reimer’s costumes; there’s lots more to discover there. And Ryan Cormack’s set is very clever. He uses six movable set pieces, gothic windows in three different sizes, that can be floated around to create endless configurations — and they light up from within to great effect. Speaking of lighting, Ben Paul’s extravagantly colourful design is also strong. He throws a purple wash on Deloris’s orange sequins in Act 1, and the effect is jewel-like.
So, with all these strengths, why was I left unsatisfied? Because I didn’t care. To a degree, that’s a function of Reynolds’s acting performance, but mostly it’s about the weakness of the material. Watching a musical, one hopes the music will be viscerally compelling but, despite the tight performance by the orchestra under Sean Bayntun’s direction, that didn’t happen for me here because I find the music itself so dull. And the book, the story, is so predictable and unrealistic that its message about sisterhood, though laudable, feels prepackaged and generic.
The many successes of this production of Sister Act passed by me but not through me. In that sense, nothing happened. And that’s the source of my disappointment.
SISTER ACT Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner with additional material by Douglas Carter Beane. Based on the Touchstone Pictures Motion Picture Sister Act written by Joseph Howard. Directed by Peter Jorgensen. A Theatre Under the Stars production running in rep at Malkin Bowl August 22. Tickets and information.
PHOTO CREDIT: (Photo of Andrew J. Hampton, centre, by Emily Cooper. Costumes by Christine Reimer. Set by Ryan Cormack. Lighting by Ben Paul)
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