Sister Act - the Reviews

So all the major reviews are finally in. Most agree that although the material is flawed, Patina Miller has had unanimous glowing praise. There is definitely a star in the making at the Palladium.

Bob Gould for BroadwayWorld.com - Rave
"It is divinely fresh, funny and fabulous."
http://tinyurl.com/pg2kwd

Charles Spencer for The Telegraph - Positive
"This musical comedy about a nun on the run could prove habit-forming"
http://tinyurl.com/pb43kd

Fiona Mountford for The Evening Standard - Positive
She (Patina Miller) might have been unknown last night, but today all that will have changed
http://tinyurl.com/p7j69a

Lisa Martland for The Stage - Positive
"sizzling senior citizen Julia Sutton"
http://tinyurl.com/r3d53p

Benedict Nightingale for The Times - Mixed
"A rather sweet, sentimental film has been hyped up, coarsened, given (the) brash Broadway treatment."
http://tinyurl.com/orl88k

David Benedict for Variety - Mixed
"Is Sister Act great theatrical art? No. Is it hit entertainment? Oh, yes.
http://tinyurl.com/q6zqma

Michael Coveney for The Independent - Mixed
"The nuns carry on as if transported to Studio 54."
http://tinyurl.com/ppng4f

Carrie Dunn for BroadwayWorld.com - Mixed
"Patina Miller ... worth the admission price alone"
http://tinyurl.com/pphwmj

Michael Coveney for WhatsOnStage.com - Mixed
"Anthony van Laasts choreography has them leaping about like electrified penguins."
http://tinyurl.com/ps2hhj

Ian Shuttleworth for The Financial Times - Mixed
"What was an unlikely yarn on screen becomes a cheesy fantasia on stage."
http://tinyurl.com/qznvse

Michael Billington for The Guardian - Negative
"Less like a personally driven work of art than a commercial exploitation of an existing franchise."
http://tinyurl.com/q3qmjc

Quentin Letts for The Daily Mail - Negative
"Hideously formulaic. Musical by numbers. Yuck, yuck, yuck."
http://tinyurl.com/o75dah

Updated On: 6/3/09 at 09:44 PM

Whens press night?
I hate this days when shows don't advertise its main first night.
Whatever happened to ´Now In Previews' and 'Opening Night Oct 27th' etc, etc.

Updated On: 6/2/09 at 05:24 AM

Press night is Wednesday as well for lower publications on the pecking order.

the OPENING night is tonight.... but that doesnt even mean anything anymore!

Stand back Oz!
Be Warned!

Oh im all about the real Prada lol

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lol i will reclaim the thread BoyfromOz has been killed and will never be seen again lol

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"I hate this days when shows don't advertise its main first night.
Whatever happened to ´Now In Previews' and 'Opening Night Oct 27th' etc, etc"

Couldn't agree more. They don't advertise opening night in fringe or regional productions either, so sometimes it's really difficult to tell whether you're booking for a preview or not.

Broadway World - Rave (Mr Robert Gould Reviewed x)

The opening number of Sister Act - the musical, which opened on June 2 at the London Palladium, is entitled "Take Me To Heaven" - and that is precisely what this delightful new show does to its audience. It is divinely fresh, funny and fabulous.

The show, based on the 1992 box-office smash-hit movie Sister Act, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Maggie Smith, is co-produced by Ms Goldberg, Joope van den Ende, Bill Taylor and Adam Spiegel - and has a brand new score by 8-time Academy Award winning composer Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, Pocahantoas, Little Shop Of Horrors, etc.) and lyricist Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid, Home On The Range and the upcoming Phantom of the Opera - Love Never Dies). And what a score it is! Bouncy disco-style numbers, a touching ballad title-song, great "character" songs and some gospel numbers that raise the roof off the theatre.

The movie was set in 1990s Reno and San Francisco, while the stage musical has been transferred to Philadelphia in the 1970s. The plot concerns wannabe disco-diva Deloris Van Cartier, who witnesses her gangster boyfriend Curtis Shank commit a murder at the club where she's performing and is forced into the witness protection programme when she reports the murder to the police. Disguised as a nun, she reluctantly takes refuge in a convent, where her unconventional attitude and lifestyle place her in conflict with the straight-laced Mother Superior. However, Deloris uses her singing talent to inspire the other nuns to create a more contemporary choir, and they become the hit of the community. When word of their success leads Curtis and his henchmen to the convent, Deloris finds she has earned the support not only of her fellow "sisters" but also of the Mother Superior as well.

The plot is unashamedly clichéd but the quality of the Book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner transcends all the clichés with its masterful weaving together of bitingly witty one-liners and moments of touching drama. Peter Schneider's perfectly paced direction, combined with Anthony Van Laast's exuberant choreography, Lez Brotherson's stunning costumes and Klara Zieglerova's cleverly effective and beautiful set design, present the audience with a cascade of joyful entertainment.

Added to this is a quite brilliant ensemble cast who all give knock-out performances. Patina Miller does a great job of filling the considerably sized shoes of a role created by the iconic Whoopi; Sheila Hancock exudes an immense stage presence as the Mother Superior, delivering her lines with immaculate comic timing; Katie Rowley Jones and Claire Greenway shine as Sisters Mary Robert and Mary Patrick; Nicolos Colicos is magnificent as Curtis's henchman, Bones; Ako Mitchel, as policeman Eddie who secretly carries a torch for Deloris, completely wins over the audience, especially with his performance of his "character" song, "I Could Be That Guy". But, even amongst this great array of talent, veteran Julia Sutton, as the elderly piano-playing and alcohol-swigging Sister Mary Lazarus, steals the show!

Sister Act - the musical (which began life in an earlier stage version at the Pasadena Playhouse in 2006 before being re-worked for its London outing) has been very heavily hyped in the lead up to its West End premiere. But for once all the hype seems justified. In the show's finale the entire cast sing "Spread The Love Around". It is likely they will be spreading the love at the Palladium for quite some time.

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Updated On: 6/2/09 at 06:09 PM

My review is up on the West End page now...

Oh i was just posting that one

Times - Mixed to Positive
"And still they come, those musical stagings of favourite movies: Billy Elliot, Dirty Dancing, Priscilla Queen of the Desert and now Sister Act, with its original star, Whoopi Goldberg, transformed into its producer. Actually, the young American actress who replaces her as the songstress in a habit, Patina Miller, is the show?s great plus. Otherwise, a rather sweet, sentimental film has been hyped up, coarsened, given what ? were the Palladium flown to Times Square ? we?d call the big, brash Broadway treatment."

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The Guardian is Negative:

"Singing nuns are becoming a standard feature at this secular venue. But the showbiz rockers of this noisily aggressive musical, co-produced by Whoopi Goldberg, are a world away from the cloistered charmers of The Sound of Music. What we have here is a show that feels less like a personally driven work of art than a commercial exploitation of an existing franchise.

The book by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner follows the rough outline of Joseph Howard's film. Once again, we see a louche lounge singer, Deloris van Cartier (played by Goldberg in the movie), driven into hiding when she witnesses a mob murder. Somewhat incongruously, the safe house chosen by the cops is a convent, which gets shaken to its religious foundations by the heroine, in her new guise as Sister Mary Clarence. Appointed to supervise the tone-deaf choir, she turns them into a group of swinging sisters whose sudden fame imperils both her and their safety..."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/jun/03/sister-act-london-palladium-review

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The Guardian
** out of 5
http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2009/jun/03/sister-act-london-palladium-review

Updated On: 6/3/09 at 04:45 AM