‘I’m Part of One Amazing Sister Act…’ Sister Act the Musical, Hammersmith Apollo Theatre, London 20.07.2022

Guest Rose Reviewer, Harri Douglas returns to London to catch the current run of Sister Act!

What a journey Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy has been on to finally make it to a London stage.
Originally due to the West End in the summer of 2020 with Whoopi Goldberg set to reprise her role
as Deloris Van Cartier, and the legendary Jennifer Saunders as Mother Superior, we all knew it would
be one not to miss.

But sadly, it wasn’t to be. Fast forward two years, and it’s finally hit the stage, but not in the way it
was first envisaged. Luckily, arguably the only person who could make up for Whoopi Goldberg’s
absence was available to replace her. Enter Beverley Knight. And what an entrance it was.
For those who haven’t seen it, Sister Act is based on the 1992 film of the same name. From the
musical’s website: Disco diva Deloris’ life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder.
Placed under protective custody she is hidden in the one place she shouldn’t be found – a convent!
Encouraged to help the struggling choir, she helps her fellow sisters find their true voices as she
unexpectedly rediscovers her own.

A lot of the musical numbers were created for the stage show which makes it quite different to the
film, although the story follows the same trajectory quite closely (the ending is a little different). It
opens with Deloris trying to make a name for herself in a seedy nightclub run by her gangster
boyfriend Curtis, giving Beverley Knight the opportunity to kick things off with a bang. She
completely owned her numbers, from first to last note. When she sings ‘See? I’m fabulous, baby!’,
there’s not a person in the audience (possibly in the world) who could argue with her; the song is a
perfect description of her performance. Impressively she maintained the same level of energy all the
way to the end, a good mixture of gospel and soul, which was no mean feat given the fact she had a
leading part in the majority of songs.

As hoped, Jennifer Saunders brought the laughs. She injected a lot of dry humour into the role of
Mother Superior, and her quick-witted lines really made the exchanges between her and Deloris.
Her reaction when the choir sings for the first time under Deloris’ direction is superb. Awaiting their
usual caterwauling, she is so shocked to hear something that is in tune that she starts to look around
the room, eventually pulling her wimple away from her ears to make sure she has heard correctly.
Although hers is primarily a speaking part, she does have her own solo song ‘I Haven’t Got A Prayer’,
which reminds us her talent extends beyond comedic acting.

Unfortunately, Keala Settle was absent from this performance, which was a shame because I love
her in The Greatest Showman and was looking forward to seeing her. Her role as Sister Mary Patrick
was taken up by Caroline Bateson who did a good job, but her solo moments were limited. A real
star in the making is Lizzie Bea who played the shy Sister Mary Robert. I hadn’t heard of her before,
but she really belted out ‘The Life I Never Led’ and has earned a place as one to watch going
forward. Lesley Joseph, more of a household name, put on a terrific performance as Sister Mary
Lazarus, bringing some Birds of a Feather style humour to her role.

Although the women of the cast really owned the night, Clive Rowe gave me the biggest surprise of
the show. He was a rather hapless and goofy Eddie Souther, the police officer hiding Deloris. On that
basis I wasn’t expecting much from the role, until his solo ‘I Could Be That Guy’, where he really
showed off how strong a voice he has.

Given that most of the cast played nuns there was little exciting that could be done by way of
costumes, but hats off to Morgan Large for bringing colour to what could otherwise have been quite
a drab setting. The multi-coloured, sequined habits at the end and the rainbow lights in the church
window really vamped things up; I could definitely see some Joseph and the Technicolour
Dreamcoat influence in there!

For me, the one thing that let the show down was a song called ‘When I Find My Baby’ in Act One. I
honestly couldn’t say what Glenn Slater (lyrics) and Alan Menken (music) were thinking with this
one. My assumption is it is supposed to be comical, but a song from Curtis about violently murdering
his girlfriend fell entirely flat for me. In fact, as someone who has experienced domestic violence, I
found lyrics such as ‘I’m gonna drown that girl! Or disembowel that girl! Or give her skull a big dent.
With a blunt instrument!’ quite triggering. It’s not one I could happily applaud, even though that was
no reflection on the actors’ delivery. Personally, I’d have considered removing it from this revival.
I wouldn’t want that to take away from what was otherwise a stunning production. The whole cast
put their hearts and souls into it, and given I went on only their second night at the Eventimapollo I
was really impressed by how together it all was.

Sister Act is at the Eventimapollo London until Sunday 28 August, and I highly recommend a visit
while Beverley Knight and Jennifer Saunders are still in their roles. Tickets can be found here. After
that it goes on tour with Sandra Marvin taking over as Deloris Van Cartier and Lesley Joseph taking
over as Mother Superior; it’s hitting the Orchard in Dartford so hopefully Katie and I can report back
with a comparison! UK tour venues and dates can be found here.