[NEohioPAL] Berko review: SISTER ACT @ Palace

[Roy Berko]

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*SISTER ACT entertaining @ State Theatre, but . . .*

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Cleveland Critics Circle)

There have been lots of plays, movies and musicals about nuns.  Nuns, who
are traditionally known as those fearsome enforcers of strict rules,
wielding punishing rulers, and giving lesser human beings the evil eye.  The
purveyors of such wisdom as “don’t wear patent leather shoes because they
reflect up,” “don’t go on a date to a restaurant with white tablecloths
because it will remind the boy of bed sheets,” “red clothing incites
passion,” and “don’t wear makeup as it entices the devil.”

Lapsed and disobedient Catholics love it when entertainment mocks the
nuns…it’s their way of “getting back at those hellions of religious
pomposity,” as a believer told me just before the opening curtain of SISTER
ACT, A DIVINE MUSICAL COMEDY, which is now playing at the Palace Theatre as
part of the Key Bank Broadway Series.

If seeing nuns being mocked is your goal in seeing SISTER ACT, you’ll be
disappointed, because the sisters in this show, except for the Mother
Superior, (and even she comes around), are much more interested in being
Vegas show girls than putting the fear of a future in hell in the minds of
elementary kids.

Also, if you are going expecting the hilarity of the 1992 film, SISTER ACT,
which starred Whoopie Goldberg, who, incidentally, happens to be the
producer of the stage version, you are probably going to be
disappointed.  You’ll
probably smile a lot, but, out and out guffaws are few and far between.

The musical, like the movie, concerns Deloris Van Cartier, a street smart
African American singer “wanna be,” who sees Curtis, her boyfriend shoot a
man.  She goes to the police, reunites with Sgt. “Sweaty Eddie” Souther,
who had a crush on her when they were in high school, who places her in
protective custody in a broke, soon to be closed church/convent.  Of
course, as is always the case in escapist musicals, she stirs up the
cloistered place, makes the quiet nuns into singing rebels, and saves the
convent.  There’s even an appearance by the Pope….this is the 60s…they
still had an active Pope then!

The book is by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner.  Never heard of them?  You’ll
get your answer why after hearing the weak one-liners, clichés, and observe
the poorly fleshed-out story.

All is not lost.  The Motown, funk and soul music by Alan Menken and Glenn
Slater is great.  Songs such as “It’s Good to Be a Nun,” “When I Find My
Baby,” “Raise Your Voice,” and “Take Me to Heaven,” while not classics, are
good Broadway fair. The cast can really sing well.  The choreography is fun.
There are some nice characterizations. And, the last two numbers (“Sister
Act” and “Spread the Love Around”) are show stoppers, inspiring the usual
Cleveland standing ovation.

SISTER ACT, A DIVINE MUSICAL, opened in 2006 at the Pasadena Playhouse,
showcased at the London Palladium in 2009, and came to Broadway in 2011.  The
Big Apple reviews were mixed, but positive enough to insure a moderately
healthy run and insure a touring version.

One of the major problems with this production is that there isn’t enough
“attitude.”  Ta’rea Campbell, who sings well, just doesn’t display the
street smarts to make Deloris real (i.e., the thrusting jaw and hip, the
finger snaps, the rough around the edges sound).  The plot isn’t helped by
the fact that the four so-called hoodlums sound like college grads.  We
need some in-your-face mobsters (“gangstas”) and their “don’t mess with me”
girl friend, to make this ridiculousness work. Whoopie and her tough guys
had it in the movie, Ta’rea and her guys don’t.

The nuns are excellent, especially Lael Van Keuren, as the novice who
matures before our eyes.  Her “The Life I Never Lived,” is the show’s most
plaintive song.  Florrie Bagel is adorable as the unbridled Sister Mary
Patrick.  Diana Findlay adds just the right amount of sarcasm to make her
Sister Mary Lazarus fun.  Hollis Resnik is superb as Mother Superior….great
voice and acting chops!  E. Clayton Cornelius is fine as Sweaty Eddie.

The sets are adequate.  The orchestra is a little light on instruments,
leaving a slight hollow sound in the big number songs.

*CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  SISTER ACT is not a great musical, but it makes for a
generally entertaining evening.  It’s the kind of cotton candy, that, with
an  attitude-filled production, could have been total fun.*

Tickets for* SISTER ACT*, which runs through March 17, 2013 at the Palace
Theatre, can be ordered by calling 216-241-6000 or going to
www.playhousesquare.org.

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