(Photo Credit Joan Marcus)
Like the Stations of the Cross—But Without the Humour
Sister Act on stage is anything but Heavenly
by Stuart Munro
Philadelphia, PA. Christmas Eve, 1977. Deloris Van Cartier (Ta’rea Campbell) is auditioning for a chance to perform in her boyfriend Curtis’s club. At the end of her number, Curtis (Kingsley Leggs) says she’s not ready and she doesn’t understand why. I can tell you. Despite having a stellar voice and killer moves, when Ms. Campbell starts to sing, her face goes completely blank and the last thing anyone wants to do is watch her. Ten seconds after the curtain came up on her and her back-up singers, I was more interested in both of the back-up singers. This is understandably problematic, having a star who is boring to watch. But this is what we’re left with on Sister Act’s national tour, currently at the Ed Mirvish Theatre.
Based on the 1992 film of the same name, Sister Act is the story of a wannabe club singer who, after seeing her gang leader boyfriend shoot a man in the head, is sent into witness protection at the local convent, the last place anyone would think to look for her. In many ways the film seems like an obvious choice for a musical adaptation; music was a large part of its plot, and its slightly over the top nature would seem well placed on the Broadway stage. Sadly, none of the memorable music from the film has been transferred to the musical, and the joy of the film has been completely lost.
There are other problems.
