[NEohioPAL] Review of "Sister Act" at Porthouse Theatre

[Bob Abelman via NEohioPAL]

Porthouse performs minor miracle with ‘Sister Act’ 



Bob Abelman

Cleveland Jewish News, The News Herald, The Morning Journal

Member, International Association of Theatre Critics



It’s hard to pin-point the precise moment when nuns became fun.  But it may have started with the 1985 creation of “Nunsense,” where it and its many sequels turned singing and dancing sisters into a musical comedy franchise. 



So it was no surprise when the 1992 nun-on-the-run motion picture “Sister Act,” starring comedian Whoopie Goldberg, was infused with music by Alan Menken (“The Little Mermaid”), witty lyrics by Glenn Slater (“School of Rock”), more clever repartee by Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (TV’s “Cheers”) and one-liners by shtickmeister Douglas Carter Beane (“Xanadu”), and turned into a Broadway musical.



The short-lived show received five 2011 Tony Award nominations – it won none – and was called “tame, innocuous and frankly a little dull” by The New York Times.  Its national tour, which came through Cleveland in 2013, lived up to the press and was a huge disappointment. 



And yet, the production currently being staged at Porthouse Theatre hits on all cylinders.  



It’s a musical theater miracle, though one more accurately attributed to the creative invention of director Eric van Baars than divine intervention.



For more of this review, go to www.clevelandjewishnews.com/columnists/. 
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