JADAR

★★★☆☆

Based on the hit movie of the same name, released back in 1992 and featuring the unforgettable performances of Whoopie Goldberg (Deloris) and Maggie Smith (Mother Superior), Sister Act: A Divine Musical Comedy encapsulates most of the humour, vigour and glamour of the original movie but has the habit (pardon the pun) of inserting unnecessary segments into an oddly-paced reiteration.

When feisty wanna-be-star Deloris (Landi Oshinowo) witnesses her boyfriend, Curtis (Ian Gareth-Jones), murder a police informant, she is whisked away from her dreams of stardom and forced to take shelter within the crumbling halls of ‘our lady of perpetual sorrow’, where she meets a choir of out-of-touch nuns and teaches them ways to connect religious songs to the community – using modern music to bridge the gap.

What follows are a number of unexpected hijinks as she reveals a world of music and freedom to the most devout, “infecting” the community with a nun-conventional holy disco fever like no other.

I was pleasantly surprised by Landi Oshinowo’s brilliant swagger and the glamorous aura she radiated, performing with her own distinct twist on Deloris but channelling the elements that made
Whoopie’s version so ‘Fabulous, Baby’! Her powerhouse vocals soared to the heavens, and the strongest parts of the musical were the divine moments in which all the sisters joined her and created
the most beautiful harmonies, all centring around God but with rap and disco twists to keep the audience laughing.

Sue Clever was the perfect embodiment of Mother Superior, channelling some of Eileen’s (Corrie) dry sarcasm and combining it with the elegance and poise of Maggie Smith’s performance.

However, the absolute star of the show was undeniably Alfie Parker playing Steady Eddie, a well-mannered and slightly traumatised puppy-eyed cop whose big musical number brought much-needed energy that the first half was sorely missing, breaking out of his police uniform into full disco attire, providing stunning vocals and great comedy as he was soon surrounded by glitterball helmet-wearing cop dancers.

Costumes in general were surprisingly varied for a show about nuns in “penguin dresses”, with Deloris’ sparkly purple dress, her white fox fur in the finale, the sparkly and vibrant habits and prison uniforms, the hip-hop priest, and countless other dazzling pieces.

Where the show struggled was its pacing. While it may have been slightly affected by a late start, the first half of the show feels a little bloated, with unnecessary pauses in the action and largely unfunny
henchmen numbers.

While the actors clearly tried to breathe life into these characters, the underlying persona of each one was rather reductive and bland. First we have TJ, the irritating and
unrelatable, dim-witted nephew, then the cringily unsmooth Joey, who seems to think of himself as a lady’s man, and finally Pablo, whose comedy supposedly stems from speaking Spanish and being the character ‘we can’t understand’, yet when you understand Spanish his comments are largely bland
and unhumourous.

By the second half, the nuns can already sing and have to prepare for the Pope’s arrival but Deloris reveals her secret to the others as she’s forced to go into hiding with Eddie for awhile. Where the
first half stalled, the second half hurtles at breakneck speeds. We get a largely unneeded blessing song before the revelation with all the sisters shocked at Mary Clarence AKA Deloris for lying, then a
gorgeous and heartwarming number for Sister Mary Robert (Eloise Runnette), where she finally breaks free of her fears and finds a voice for all of her concerns.

Deloris gets time to move from her narcissism, shifting away from the I’m “Fabulous, Baby” attitude to realising her sisterhood and friends are the true fabulous parts of life… not the fame and glamour she’s been chasing.

We also get a strangely forced relationship between Eddie and Deloris added for good measure in the middle of this, although the actors do realistically convey the chemistry of the unnecessary story addition.

Soon, the hooligans find out where Deloris is hiding and are sent to kill her before she can speak in court, arriving as she returns to her “big Sister Act” before the Pope’s arrival. In the movie, both the
Pope’s arrival and the big fight with Curtis are the climax of the story… everything has been leading to this, but strangely the musical speeds through this with a chaotic Home Alone-style slapstick fight scene between the nuns and the men, before Curtis arrives, and despite waving a gun around, hesitates and gives the Sisters time to sing a heartwarming song rather than kill Deloris as he had intended.

While it was a touching moment, it felt oddly placed in a moment of supposedly edge-of-the-seat action. This was then followed by the Pope’s arrival which happened so quickly I can barely
recall it… but it did happen!

However, the curtain call was a fabulously divine spectacle of glitz, glam and godly devotion that really brought back the comedic and jaw-dropping energy I had been craving in the latter moments
of the show.

While Sister Act is filled to the brim with humour and energy, it didn’t always hit the mark with some of its characters and a largely uneven pacing despite having a brilliant cast, gorgeous costumes and a dazzling set filled with glitter balls and fancy lights.

However, as a fan of the movie, I can safely say that it’s a must-see spectacle for those who enjoyed the original, despite its overarching flaws.

Sister Act runs at Palace Theatre Manchester until March 30 and tours the UK until October 5.

Photo: Mark Senior