Theater review
“Sister Act”
Grade: B-
8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. 2 p.m. Saturday. 1 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Through Sunday. $33-$83. Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 1-855-285-8499.
Bottom line: Pure nun-sense.
“Sister Act” has been in the habit of making us laugh for more than 20 years.
First came the 1992 screwball film with Whoopi Goldberg as the sassy singer turned nun on the run. Then the musical adaptation developed at the Alliance Theatre and Pasadena Playhouse during the 2006-2007 season. Now after London and Broadway engagements, the tale of murder witness Deloris Van Cartier is on a national tour, which is playing the Fox Theatre through Sunday.
I’ll say this: I enjoyed the world premiere directed by Peter Schneider at the Alliance, and I continue to smile at the capers of Deloris (played here by the delightful Ta’Rea Campbell) and her culture clash with the uptight Philadelphia Mother Superior (Hollis Resnik).
Could a show possibly be any sillier? No. Does it really matter? Well …
Not if you are in the mood for a lightweight, crowd-pleasing spectacle with a few good songs (music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Glenn Slater) and a nonsensical adaptation (by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner, with a little help from Douglas Carter Beane). It makes no sense at all that Deloris would go into hiding in the same city where her gangster boyfriend Curtis (Kingsley Leggs) and his gang of hoodlums reside. Or that she would appear in a weekly TV broadcast with her chorus of singing Catholic sisters, whose newfound popularity may save the dying church from being bought by a couple of bachelor antique dealers. (Wink, wink.)
Logic has never been a defining principle of laughter, and it certainly doesn’t apply to this so-called “Divine Musical Comedy,” which in making its transition from film to stage has been radically altered in the narrative department. Let’s just say it’s the same core story — and that matters of romance, popes, redemption and transformation are all in the air.
After witnessing the murder, Deloris’ visit to the police station gives her a chance to reconnect with her old friend “Sweaty” Eddie Souther (wonderfully played by E. Clayton Cornelious), a Barney Fife-style cop who fears guns and seemingly everything else. Hiding out at the nunnery, Deloris can’t say the Lord’s Prayer, but she manages to win the hearts of her sequestered sisters (all named Mary-something). They are looking for fun, and they find it in her rousing musical arrangements and their flashy new costumes.
This all-new score eschews the pop tunes used in the film — “My Guy (My God),” “I Will Follow Him” — for stale cheese like “Take Me to Heaven” and the Abba-like “Sunday Morning Fever.” But the ballads of Deloris (“Sister Act”) and Sister Mary Robert (“The Life I Never Led”) are moving in a “Wicked” kind of way. While you could quibble that the bubbly shtick of Sister Mary Patrick (Florrie Bagel) isn’t quite as beguiling as that of her Broadway predecessor, you can’t deny that the entire cast sings like angels. Director Jerry Zaks delivers a glorious group of vocalists, actors and dancers, and Anthony Van Laast’s choreography is uniformly delightful. Part of the joy is the discovery that even old nuns can have spry muscles and mean dance moves, too.
Lez Brotherston has great fun with the nun garb and gangster fashions. And Klara Zieglerova’s sets, coupled with Natasha Katz’s brilliant lighting, transform the stage from pedestrian police precincts to heavenly cathedrals with grace and efficiency.
At about 2 1/2 hours (including intermission), “Sister Act” soars from sacred to profane and back again many times over. It’s a giddy, family-friendly show that even packs a few whispers of spiritual contemplation. If you are a snobby musical-comedy acolyte, you might wince at how low it can go. I for one don’t think it a sacrilege to have a good time at the theater. In that sense, “Sister Act” may be an answer to a prayer.
