Last week I went to see Sister Act on Broadway with a dear friend. Originally, when I won the tickets at Mom’s Nite Out, I planned to take my husband Reggie with me, but he was kind enough to let me have a ladies night out. When I returned home, I told him that Sister Act was my favorite Broadway play of all time. “You like it even more than The Lion King?” he asked. It really is hard to compare, because they are such different plays. I answered “yes” though, because Sister Act was more of an uplifting production. I looked around as I was leaving and everyone that I saw had big smiles on their faces. (Of course that might have something to do with the fact that the closing number that was performed by the cast was “Spread the Love Around”!)
As soon as I entered The Broadway Theatre, I thought “I love the theater!” There is such a great medley of people. (For instance, there were two gentlemen with paisley brocade jackets – one in burgundy and the other in gold – who sat next to me. We became fast friends and shared our commentary with one another during the various breaks in the show.) Of course the production has to be great too…or the whole “loving the theater” mindset would disappear. Sister Act did not disappoint. Actually, I thought that it was better than the original movie. There was a lot of smart humor and a couple of sub-plots that were original…unless I totally missed them in the movie version. Take a peek at the musical for yourself:
The one minor hitch in the production was technical – the microphones dropped the sound of a few of the nuns’ dialogue during a couple of brief segments. The only other thing that was weird to me was that there was a giant Mary on the stage. At one point, she was draped in sparkly colored glitter as the sculpture swirled around the stage! (I know that Mary plays a huge role in the Catholic faith, but that huge one was freaky.)
Anyway, the musical grabbed my attention from the very beginning. “Use of recording devices is a sin. For heaven’s sake, turn off your phones. Can I get an Amen?” Those first three lines set the tone for the entire laughter-filled production. Some of the things that especially stood out to me because they were different than the movie included the following:
1. Deloris: Whoopi Goldberg did a great job in the original movie, but Patina Miller took the role to a more fabulous level. Ms. Miller reminded me (not her physical appearance but her performance) of a mixture between Beyonce and Tina Turner. She was very high energy and extremely talented. When she sang (I’m) “Fabulous, Baby!” the audience agreed.
2. Curtis Jackson: In the Broadway production, the villain is Black. (It took me a moment to figure out which character he was supposed to be playing!) He also has a nephew who is portrayed as a little “slow” socially…but the nephew is hilarious.
3. The monastery residents: They are much funnier on Broadway. Mother Superior had several one-liners that had the audience laughing out loud. The actress who played her also had really great timing with her delivery. Her “God loves us when we sing…even like that” line comes to mind. (That was Mother Superior’s commentary on the initially painful sounding nun choir.) One of the elderly nuns was rapping. They even had a “pope” sighting at the end!
4. The good cop: I might have to go back and watch the movie again, but I don’t remember there being a love interest between Deloris and the cop (Eddie) who was trying to protect her from Curtis. The play gives them a back-story. He’s this awkward (his nickname is “Sweaty Eddie”) guy who has had a crush on Deloris since high school. He definitely becomes more confident over the life of the play. He might even end up with the girl…
5. Mary Robert: Once again, it has been a while since I saw the original movie, but I don’t remember her questioning the choice to be a nun. (She’s the tiny nun with the beautiful, big voice.) In the Broadway version, she does wonder what it would be like to live the life that she never gave herself a chance to explore. It’s a very powerful sub-plot. (Then again, don’t we all have moments when we question the roads that we didn’t take?)
In my opinion, the differences combined to make the plot of the play even better than the move. The excellent acting, music, set design and choreography also all contributed to make Sister Act on Broadway fabulous (baby)!
Post Image courtesy of Sister Act on Broadway