REVIEW: Sister Act at the Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham

Cheltenham

 

On arrival to the Everyman's main auditorium your eyes are drawn to the glowing neon title "Sister Act" floating centre stage inside a dazzling hemisphere of bright watercolours exploding outward. The music swells and bright colours sweep across the neon sign which drifts above whilst the opening scene and props materialise. The scenes and changes are executed flawlessly throughout, as a beautifully lit convent interior becomes a dazzling dancehall in the blink of an eye, then becomes a bustling police station the next moment.

Fans of both the original 1992 movie and fans of musicals alike will love this equally. The songs, all original, are written by Alan Menken (a Disney musical veteran) meaning every song is a true earworm. The cast and live orchestra perform so perfectly you'd swear the songs were prerecorded if it wasn't for authentic sounding monologues in-between.

The cast is phenomenal making it hard to pick a stand out performer, in a sky filled with brightly burning stars none outshone another, but as an ensemble they all glow as one.

For her portrayal of Delores, the singer, turned nun, returned singer, Landi Oshinowo deserves all due credit, her energy is palpable and she manages to bring a fresh take on Delores without straying far from the source material or from Goldberg's original portrayal. Her singing voice too is powerful yet is modestly controlled when singing some of the more subdued ecclesiastical numbers.

Lesley Joseph too manages to give Maggie Smith a run for her money as Mother Superior, with some perfectly hilarious one-liners and some delicious British sarcasm.

 

Standout moments include Lizzy Bea's final epic note in her song The Life I Never Led, a musical number by three hapless stooges that's sure to have you giggling, and a triple costume change that I promise will leave you gasping.

The crescendo of the musical explodes with a rainbow of costumes, glitter and dance that had the entire theatre on their feet clapping and applauding. If you want to be one of them, the play is showing daily at the Everyman, Cheltenham until Saturday 28th October.

Review by Sam

 

 

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