SISTER ACT Reviews- Page 6

[bwayfan7000]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:37am

You are entitled to an opinion. You didn't like Sister Act. WE GET IT. I had a great time at it, but I'm not arguing that it's the greatest musical of all time; it wasn't even my favorite new musical of the season. What I (and I don't know if I can speak for adamgreer and others, but I'm guessing it's likely that they'd agree) object to is the incessant bashing on multiple threads. Your opinion has been stated. Now get over it. And you have no idea how old I am, teenager or otherwise.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:47am

Getting back to another point that was made earlier...

When Julie Andrews made Mary Poppins her own...
many other actresses pale in comparison when they
try to play Mary Poppins. Same for Sound of Music.

Julie Andrews was the perfect Maria Von Trapp.

When Yul Brynner played the King in the King and I,
others have tried to play the role and some have even done a good job but they always compare the actor playing the King's performance to Yul Brynner. Usually they pale in comparison.

When Reese Witherspoon stole our hearts in Legally Blonde the movie,her successor in the musical paled in comparison.

So when someone takes a role in a musical based on a movie and that movie was made so so special by the particular actor.. of course you are going to compare that person to the original actor.


Just like copies of the Mona Lisa are still just pale copies.
until something new, different or original is added.

Thoughts? Intelligent ones? Not ones that are just out to insult
me on my opinion.

[BwayTday]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:48am

Just because someone is young doesn't mean their opinions are invalid or they are mindless (sure, SOME are). And furthermore it wasn't only young, inexperienced people that liked it. A lot of seasoned theatre goers seemed to also enjoy it. It doesn't matter how old one is, a opinion is an opinion. Age can help in spectrum and in forming opinions, but still. YOU didn't like Sister Act, and I respect your opinion, but please respect others'.

When someone does something that you view as the quintessential version, it is hard to accept other interpretations.
Updated On: 4/29/11 at 12:48 AM

[JamieHT]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 12:48am

Now, I'm not a teenager. However, if I was, I would hope that you, as a theatre professor, would encourage me to have my own opinions about theatre and not try and dictate to me what I should and shouldn't like.

Maybe Sister Act was YOUR favourite film as a teenager and you're the one now getting 'bent out of shape' that they dared to change it. Maybe. Move on!!

[goldenboy]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 1:17am

So here I am... self expressing myself again...This is my outlet right now. And I do write stream of consciousness..not like an essay.

I am moving on. I posted another take on the topic on this board without bashing your beloved show and you keep going back to bashing me for my opinion.





It's hard to keep moving on when you people keep getting insulted that I didn't like what you liked. I am happy you liked
it. Why is that so hard to accept?

Do you think the memory of a beloved performer is hard to erase from your memory?

The memory of Judy Garland hovers over Dorothy.
Others have tried to varying degrees of success but to me
there is only one Dorothy.

The memory of Julie Andrews hovers over Mary Poppins. Other have tried to varying degrees of success but to me there is only one Mary Poppins.

This may be true with Whoopi Goldberg and Sister Act as more than one reviewer has pointed out.

So do you think that a memory of a beloved performer can be replaced?

[JamieHT]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 1:49am

Of course they are remembered for playing those roles, because they are the ones who played them in the film (a much more accessible medium than the theatre). Now I can't comment on Mary Poppins or Wizard of Oz because I've never seen them on stage but I would never go to see one of them expecting to see Judy or Julie on stage though, as I know I would be disappointed. I would be totally prepared to see their performances altered and even bettered on stage. I think it would be a shame that everytime someone gave a 'definitive' performance, that no one would dare recreate it.

I would say Whoopi is too old to recreate Deloris again, so she did the right thing and let someone else take on the role. In doing so, she let the songs have so much more range than she would ever be able to sing.

I think the fact they changed the songs and the era when it was set actually makes it easier to accept them as different performances. If Patina was singing Whoopi's part in 'I Will Follow Him' I'm sure I would be disappointed. Disappointed because she didn't get to show off her voice more.

I'm sorry you didn't like it, because I love it and it always cheers me up, but if we all liked the same things, the World would be a very dull place.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 4/29/11 at 9:54am

When Reese Witherspoon stole our hearts in Legally Blonde the movie,her successor in the musical paled in comparison.

On Broadway, I agree. London was a different story. Sheridan Smith turned the musical into the star vehicle it was meant to be. I had forgotten Reese Witherspoon completely.

When I saw Sister Act in London, I hadn't seen the movie in ages and so I wasn't comparing it to anything. I just thought Patina Miller was a solid singer, but her acting was rather pedestrian. The book did her no favors. I don't know how the new book works, but I noticed most of the score remained unchanged and while I enjoyed most of the songs for Delores and the nuns, I was never engaged enough to generate much interest in the story or the characters. Whereas in the same weekend, having already seen Legally Blonde on Broadway and found it merely cute, the London production ended up being one of the best productions of any musical I've seen in the West End. Everything about it worked.

[goldenboy]

Posted: 7/3/11 at 3:01pm

Wow. Sounds like Legally Blonde improved tremendously in its Atlantic Crossing.
It was awful on Broadway.

And I agree, wholeheartedly with your opinion of Sister Act, Mister Matt.

[Nickira Margherita]

Posted: 7/4/11 at 12:41am

I saw it the first Saturday after the Tonys and loved it! I thought it was great fun. It was flashy, fluffy, glitzy, and very funny, which was pretty much what I expected. Patina Miller was incredible, in my opinion. Her voice was stellar, she was hysterical and just had so much energy, I think she's gonna do very well on Broadway in the future. I'd never seen Victoria Clark in anything before this show (minus her excellent performance at Sondheim's 80th birthday concert) and thought she was wonderful. Her voice was pitch perfect and her one liners always got huge laughs. While I thought the second act dragged in the beginning, Lady in the Long Black Dress was hilarious and everything pretty much picked up afterwards. I decided to stage door after the show, which I haven't done in years, and the cast members that came out were very personable and generous, particularly Audrie Neenan. I told her she was hysterical as Mary Lazarus and that what I loved most about the show was how fun it was. She went on to talk about how the cast has so much fun performing it every day, and I think thats what I appreciated the most about the show: You could tell everyone onstage was having a ball (I even thought Chester Gregory was great as well). I didn't go in expecting the next Messiah of musical theatre, all I wanted was a fun, irreverent, entertaining 2 1/2 hours and that's what I got. I can see why people might not like the show, but I don't think thats any reason to make someone who enjoyed it feel like an amateur who knows nothing about good theatre. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and the same principle is true for people who attend theatre.