‘Raise Your Voice’ at the King’s Theatre in Glasgow this week for the excellent cast of ‘Sister Act The Musical’. This production leaves nothing to be desired, filling the theatre with joy and laughter throughout. Based on the iconic movie, this sparkling tribute to the universal power of friendship, sisterhood and music tells the hilarious story of the disco diva whose life takes a surprising turn when she witnesses a murder. Under protective custody she is hidden in the one place she won’t be found – a convent! Disguised as a nun and under the suspicious watch of Mother Superior, Deloris helps her fellow sisters find their voices as she unexpectedly rediscovers her own.
Sue Cleaver as Mother Superior is an excellent addition to the cast, Cleaver brought a humbleness to the role. Cleaver displayed a masterclass in comedic performance. Throughout the performance Cleaver continuously won the audience over with her attention to detail, creating unique and memorable physical gags to reveal the two sides of Mother Superior.
Landi Oshinowo as Deloris Van Cartier was phenomenal. Oshinowo’s approach to the character was seemingly effortless. Her character choices at first seemed slightly understated to begin with, however, this is soon revealed to be the key to her character journey and the personal growth of Deloris Van Cartier. Within ensemble numbers, Oshinowo played her character down slightly which allowed the other cast members and their individual strengths to shine. An effortless portrayal of pure raw talent.
Eloise Runnette as Sister Mary Robert had such a familiarity around her character, the audience resonated with the turmoil of the character and Runnette is a credit to the role. Runnette wowed the audience with her powerhouse vocals.
Alfie Parker as Eddie Souther was a stand out for this cast, the character is so well written and goes against the norm of what we expect from a character like Eddie. Parker demands attention while on stage and has a playful approach to the character. The audience totally falls in love with Eddie and root for him throughout. Parker gives an engrossing performance which leaves you wanting more.
Ian Gareth-Jones as Curtis Jackson has put a lot of careful consideration into playing this character almost like a caricature of a gangster. The role was excellently played to mimic the way the character viewed himself. However, I fear there is an element of danger missed within these choices.
Julie Stark as Sister Mary Lazarus brought an excellent contrast to the stage using her vocal choice and physicality. Stark’s most impressive quality was her dedication, each and every move on stage was made with intention and this never faulted. Stark gave the audience two hours of total immersion allowing us to buy into the multiple extravagant personality types.
Isabel Canning as Sister Mary Patrick carried a lightness, the likeability of this character was exceptional. Despite the characters naivety and over eager nature, Canning had the audience smiling from ear to ear.
Kate Powell as Sister Mary Martin of Tours used physicality and the use of mental absence to bring great power to her role. Powell’s depiction of the character was extremely fun to watch, although her delivery of her lines gave the audience an outburst of laughter, it was the moments where she was “absent” which made the highest impact.
Phillip Arran as Monsignor O’Hara had an excellent character journey, the journey of Monsignor O’Hara was well balanced and well paced. The character develops at the same rate as the audience, allowing Arran to bring us along with him. The energy from Arran continuously brought the audience up another level with the performers.
Wendy-Lee Purdy as Sister Mary Theresa gave a particularly realistic display of emotion, throughout the performance the contrast of Purdy’s character balanced the heightened range of character types, creating an overall well balanced performance.
Elliot Gooch as TJ, Michalis Antoniou as Pablo and Callum Martin as Joey worked extremely well together. The character relationship between the three was extremely entertaining and they lapped up each moment that they were onstage. Their vocal harmonies and movement was particularly impressive and they displayed no inhibition with their roles.
The production featured a lot of roles played by the following Esme Laudat as Michelle, Amber Kennedy as Tina, Harvey Ebbage as Clemont, Joseph Connor as Cop/Bartender and the onstage swings including Ceris Hine, Sheri Lineham, Samuel John-Humphreys and Corrine Priest. These roles aided us in following the pace of the story, the ensemble actively contributed into our immersion of the storyline. The ensemble gave an excellent, fun filled, high energy performance which brought a lot of fun to the production.
Director Bill Buckhurst has found a wonderful balance with the production. The serious nature of the storyline is secondary to the power of sisterhood and growth. Buckhurst has encouraged the audience to rejoice with the cast and immerse themselves in the joy, while poking fun at the ‘villains’ of the story.
The set and costume designer, Morgan Large has absolutely smashed this production out of the park. The set is absolutely glistening, the use of stained glass and patterns throughout the convent are absolutely beautiful. We experience subtlety within the spaces such as the police station which only highlights how grand the convent is. The costumes are dazzling, without spoiling anything prepared to be dazzled more than once by a wonderful costume reveal within this production.
Choreographer Alistair David did an excellent job of playing up the comedic roles of TJ, Joey and Pablo within this production, their choreography gave visions of a cheesy early 2000’s pop boy band which made the audience have loads of fun. The choreography of some of the ensemble work gave us some wonderful leg extensions and lovely visuals on stage. The nuns choreography was perfectly simple and let the actors contribute their own characters’ flair to each move whilst remaining cohesive.
Lighting design Tim Mitchell was absolutely stunning, mega musicals such as ‘Sister Act’ comes with huge expectations and Tim Mitchell did not disappoint with the lighting design within this performance. Mitchell amped up the fun of the performance with the use of disco balls, colour changing signs and beautifully coloured lighting. Even within the convent, the lighting did not portray a drab settling, however, amplified a hope throughout.
Musical Director Tom Slade was phenomenal, Slade always went by the performers on stage and made a real effort to ensure they were supported throughout. Slade seemed to be enjoying his role and his passion shined throughout, leading his orchestra and performers with such ease.
‘Sister Act The Musical’ will have you feeling ‘Fabulous Baby’! If you wish to see a heart-warming story, filled with a diverse cast, a super fun atmosphere and excellent music then get yourself along to the King’s Theatre Glasgow this week!
Get your tickets to ‘Sister Act The Musical’ at The King’s Theatre Glasgow here: https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sister-act/kings-theatre-glasgow/
Mark Senior
Theatre Scotland 
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