You are a musical of contrasts! You set a moody, gothic, cathedral against a thousand shiny disco lights. You present us with the drab Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Sorrow, and then give us dancing policemen who could have come straight from a Village People concert. And you pit the sombre Mother Superior (Genevieve Lemon) against the sassy heathen, Deloris Van Cartier (Casey Donovan). It’s your contrasts that make us chuckle.
You’re uplifting – a mix of Motown, soul, disco, and R&B, contrast against gospel – set in 1970’s Philadelphia. You closely follow the plot line of the 1992 Whoopi Goldberg movie that we all know and love. That is, lounge singer, Deloris, accidentally witnesses her married gangster boyfriend, Curtis Jackson (James Bryer), committing a murder – leading to her going into hiding within the convent while waiting to testify against him.
Much like the movie, you take a little to warm up but, oh, once the sisters learn to ‘raise their voice’, that’s when you really step it up. Their quirky energy is infectious: Sister Mary Lazarus (Rhonda Burchmore), Sister Mary Robert (Sophie Montague), Sister Mary Martin (Sally Bourne), and the rest of the choir have us feeling the flow, digging the scene, and shaking it ‘like we’re Mary Magdalene’. And can we please take the delightful Sister Mary Patrick (Bianca Bruce) home with us, for when we need a pick-me-up? It’s impossible not to smile along with her.
We also take our hats off to you for attempting to translate some complex action scenes to the stage – it can’t have been easy. But you’ve stuck with the message of empowerment and sisterhood, and so we get to see Delois escaping her troubled relationship in a rickshaw, and warrior nuns mowing down armed criminals in a cathedral.
Now, about your leading lady, Casey. Let’s be clear: we’ve loved her from her first appearance as a teenager on Australian Idol 20 years ago, through to her recent turn in & Juliet earlier this year. Her powerhouse stage presence and vocals are a big part of what make you…well, you. This may have been her first starring role, but we already knew she’d blow your rafters off, and we weren’t wrong.
‘Sweaty Eddie’ Souther (Raphael Wong) is a more surprising crowd-pleaser, as the affable, baby-cheeked police officer. And your smooth gangsters – Curtis, TJ (James Bell), Pablo (Jordan Angelides), and Joey (Tom Struik) – could rival Barry White. That is, if Barry had ever sung about wanting to disembowel his love interests, or seduce a nun. Sure, ‘When I Find My Baby’ could be an anthem for domestic violence, and ‘Lady in the Long Black Dress’ didn’t win you any fans over at the Catholic Weekly, but you don’t feel like the kind of musical who would want us to dwell on that for too long.
You are one of those musicals best enjoyed for what you are. Feel-good sparkly fun. In fact, you use every opportunity to treat us to glitz, glamour, and soo many disco lights. You lit up all corners of the beautiful Capitol Theatre like never before. While we still maintain it would have been an extra special treat to hear a few of the movie-tunes, like ‘My God’, or ‘I Will Follow Him’, your talented cast make all your musical numbers sound glorious. By your finale, you dissolve completely into a blinding spectacle of sound, rainbow colours, lights, and more sequins than we ever thought we’d see on one stage.
You’re completely over the top, Sister Act. But you’re the lovechild of Catholicism and discotheque, and you let us lean all the way into the ridiculousness of that. Thanks for the chuckle and the boogie.
With love,
Playing at the Capitol Theatre from 7 August – 26 October 2024. Photos by Daniel Boud.
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