Stand-by Joined: 4/26/04
I can confirm it. I'm an intern on the show in London right now. I'm starting up with it next week. So I know that it's going to be worked on in London but that's all I know. I'll post something when I know more about the show (granted its not top secret or anything.)
I, personally, can't get enough of Sister Act 2. Let's see THAT on stage!
Featured Actor Joined: 8/24/07
Planning a London opening towards the end of the year by all accounts...
I saw Atlanta too....I thought Lewis was working well and so was the "mousy sister who explodes with big belt in finale" who I think was Beth Malone, who can do no wrong (at least I've never seen her fail). However the rest of the supporting nuns and Mother Superior, plus the ex-boyfriend who has to be both idiotic and threatening (not easy to pull off) were not that great. The new beau was good, great voice, good timing, sexy, and had one terrific bit with the assistance of some clever costuming. The show has a lot of potential I think but needs some tweaking. Not sure the director has the experience to really pull it off....I believe him to be the producer as well, and perhaps some more objectivity no the material (not so much one man's opinion) is needed to move it forward. The score is hit or miss, too. Not sure moving it back to the Seventies (or whichever "disco craze" year) really works in its favor, though the comedy of some of that period's pop-music parodies can be fun at times.
Leading Actor Joined: 12/31/69
Patina Miller is going to play Dolores in the London workshop.
A friend who was one of the leads in Pasadena and Atlanta confirmed to me that SISTER ACT will be coming to London's West End in the fall. Patina Miller, who is AMAZING, is set to star. If you never heard of her, you can catch clips of her on YOUTUBE. She is the real thing- great actress, great comic timing and a voice that you won't forget.
Its just had a workshop i think here in the UK, apparently they have made rewrites on act 2
To quote back on some of the comments in previous sections:
Dawnn Lewis's singing left a lot to be desired and her comic timing was off. yes, the show does need a star and Patina Miller is a star-in-the-making...This show will make her a star.
I wanted to love it, but in Pasadena, I didn't. My biggest problem was the loss of much of the heart that the movie possessed. It's the transformation of the nun choir that is so much fun to witness, and that is totally lost in the musical. They sing this a terrific song about being a nun, in wonderful harmony, and then a little while later, Dolores teaches them to sing. (I get it that things must happen differently in a musical, but that wonderful "Hail Holy Queen" moment is priceless. Plus, all the songs the nuns 'perform', while clever and campy (Shaiman was brilliant in taking those secular songs and "churching" them up) still had a real sweetness to them. The Disco Medley in the musical is way too trite and campy, even putting the nuns in sequins or something.
I wish it well, as I am a big fan of both movies (and a bit of trivia, 'Sister Act' was originally written as a vehicle for Bette Midler, and she was a lounge singer in Atlantic City).
I just feel that if I saw this on Broadway, I would want an established star in the role, instead of a Dawn Lewis.
I agree, ray.
I am a huge alan menken fan, but I am just confused as to why he was brought onto this project given the fact Shaiman is a huge broadway name in his own right, and he actually did all the arrangements for the sister act film.
I haven't seen the show, I"m just leery of it coming to broadway without any of the songs people have learned to love and associate with the film. The "popified" church hymns and tunes were so much of the magic of that film, and it just seems strange thinking this incarnation has none of them.
That said, I hope the show is successful and is great in it's own right!
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