The Sydney musical theatre scene is currently going from strength to strength at the moment with well-attended, high quality shows filling all of the city’s largest theatres. Sister Act is the latest production to hit Sydney, with Casey Donovan starring as Deloris Van Cartier.
Based on the classic 90s film, the musical essentially acts as a parody of the gangster film era. Evoking 1970s Philly, we are first introduced to Deloris, who sees her boyfriend shoot a man in the company of his gangster mob. After she escapes, she rushes to the police, where officer Eddie Southern immediately places her in witness protection, in a convent. As a performer and a diva, the transition to the life of a nun is not easy. What follows is a series of events carrying all the hallmarks of slapstick comedy, as Deloris tries to teach the woeful choir of nuns how to sing while her boyfriend and his crew try to find her.
The show is heavily reliant on the performance of Deloris and fortunately for the production, Donovan well and truly delivers in this role. Her voice is sublime and she hits every note with the power and pizzazz that the role demands. She balances style with just the right amount of grit so that her performance is as moving as it is spectacular and funny. It feels odd to say that someone as accomplished as Donovan might be having a break-out role but whereas some of her other performances have felt strong as part of a superb ensemble, this feels like a performance that makes you want to go see the show for Donovan alone (that is not a slight on the rest of the cast in any way whatsoever, to be clear, it’s just that Donovan is that good).
The other members of the cast are also strong, with some entertaining performances throughout the production. Raphael Wong is superb as Eddie, showing off a stunning voice (even if his acting lacked self-assuredness at times). Genevieve Lemon is perfectly cast as Mother Superior, giving an assured performance which nicely juxtaposes Donovan’s role. Rhonda Burchmore also has a fun cameo as Sister Mary Lazarus for a bit of added star power.
The musical is so comical that at times it is hard to follow what is actually happening on the stage. There is no real plot, and the action is not well-signposted meaning that, at times, the production feels like a series of (well-performed) numbers stuck with little cohesion into a semblance of a story. This is certainly a flaw in the book, as the premise is interesting and with some development, the story could lift the production to the next level but ultimately, this is probably the reason that the show is not performed as frequently as, on its face, it would deserve. Alan Menken’s music is also strong in parts but lacks the consistency of some of his other works. With that said, when the music combines with the strong vocals of this cast, it produces an exciting, toe-tapping experience, which was well-received by the opening night audience.
Finally, a word for the costumes in the final scene which are absolutely dazzling. A perfect ending to surprise the audience one last time.
Ultimately, this is a fun show with a lot of great songs and a heap of energy to entertain the audience. Casey Donovan is remarkably good, and she is ably supported by a strong cast. There isn’t much of a story to this production, but there doesn’t have to be. The aim here is for the audience to have a good time and there’s no doubt that, in this regard, it is the perfect night out.
Rating: ★★★★1/2
Sister Act plays until 26th October at the Capitol Theatre. For more information, click here.
All photo credits: Daniel Boud
Musicaltheatre.au - Australian music and theatre reviews 
As a musical it was fantastic, but as a Sister Act fan it was really disappointing with not a single song from the movie. Casey Donovan was great, the parts were played really well but to have non of the iconic songs just wasn’t right!
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Very disappointed with the show, to call the show “Sister Act” without any of the classic songs from the movie, I didn’t go to see Hairspray to hear a whole new range of songs,NO, I heard songs done from the movie, fantastic. Very very disappointed, RENAME the show!!!
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honestly,any great show shouldn’t rely on canned laughter and canned applause to prompt a response from the audience, how insulting is that? The cast were amazing and and provided a breath of fresh air to a well known, worn out story. Shame,not well executed despite the amazing talent. Lady sitting next to me fell asleep twice 😔. Need to let the audience decide what is worth a laugh or chuckle. Took the shine off a very anticipated and long awaited time to see the show. DITCH THE CANNED LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE! We aren’t all that dumb.
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Casey Donovan you absolute Australian Legend so talented, can sing, can dance and can act no one could have played Deloris better.Genevieve Lemon Australian icon of our stage and did not disappoint , Rhonda Burchmore you sooo still have it.
For me first time seeing some newer amazing Talent in Sophie Montague , Raphael Wong.
sister Mary Patrick aka Bianca was Brilliant and the 3 boys/men a hoot .
special mention to Gabriyel Thomas who could sing, Dance and act + Theodore Williams who must have the most roles in the show.
I love the whole story line, music and song choice and really appreciate how hard you all work.
thank you for an amazing experience.
Giinagay
karen
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The key focus was the show DOES NOT adhere in any way to the music of the motion picture with Whoopi. If this bothers you, it’s not for you.
If you can accept a story loosely based on the movie with even more new songs for pointless scenes (that’ll put you to sleep) go in knowing this.
No songs frome the original movie. 1st half okay, 2nd half a quite boring.
Costumes were quite nice.
Personally, a mistake to attend on my part.
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Probably the most disappointing , overacted, screeching performance I have ever been to. I was prepared for the fact that there wasn’t any of the original sound track in the show, however, the music in the show didn’t entertain at all, it just dragged out, nothing uplifting or catchy. The voices were very good, some better than others, but way too forced! The script stooped to smut to try to get a laugh out of the audience. I was with 4 other women of varying ages and we all felt the same. Overall, I was glad when it was over. In saying that, the finale, was bright, colourful, well choreographed and fun.
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This was a huge disappointment. There was nothing resembling the movie and many probably went because they were a movie fan. It was an overacted, screeching performance of underwhelming songs and lame/smutty one liners that generally failed to raise a laugh. The first half dragged on and on but thank goodness the second half lifted a little.
What a relief to commence the three hour trip home.
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