Adelaide Reviews

If you had thought that this show would have done to a nun what none should have done you were wrong. Sister Act is purely and wholly full of nun fun. It is big, it is slick, it is fast, it is noisy and it is fabulous.

Built on the success of the 1992 movie starring Whoopi Goldberg and Dame Maggie Smith, this first Australian stage production brings all the joy and energy of the story with the music by Alan Menken and Lyrics by Glenn Slater roaring from the screen to the immediacy of the stage. And the result far from sacrilegious – it is both earthy and heavenly!

The story (Cheri and Bill Steinkellner) follows a street girl/cabaret performer being hidden disguised as a nun hiding in a convent where she reforms the abominably tuneless singing of the nuns into heavenly music. She is being sought by a gang of crooks, led by her murderous erstwhile boyfriend. She is finally rescued by the policeman who’s been secretly in love with her forever, the nuns have an amazing performance contract, the crooks are rounded up and everyone is happy, in the most stunning, rowdy, flashy, over the top, finale.

Casey Donovan wonderfully fills to overflowing the role of Dolores, with amazing singing, a full-on presence and extraordinarily flexible wrist and hand movements. Genevieve Lemon as the Mother Superior exudes gentleness and strength, tempered with occasional understandable frustration and impatience. Adam Murphy is convincingly sleazy as Curtis Jackson, the boss of the dodgy gang of buffoon crooks, while Raphel Wong captures everybody’s hearts with his very fine voice, as the cute, honest and devoted policeman, Eddie Souther.

Supporting these leading roles is a superb cast, polished in their singing, acting and choreography, (by Alistair David) with a fine orchestra in the pit led by Musical Director Daniel Griffin. A large backstage crew manages the many scene changes, (we won't mention the errant rose window that sneaked into the wrong scene and was quietly flown out – a first night understandable woops!) as the action moves from dark gothic church and convent to a roaring, light-filled, full-blown disco. The dramatic sets and extraordinary, stupendous over-the-top costumes (Morgan Large) are a masterpiece in themselves, wrapping this fabulous production into a must-see event which sent the capacity opening night audience away, feeling blessed.