Sister Act At Milton Keynes Theatre Review

Reviewed by Hilz.

‘FABULOUS BABY’!!

Straight from the West End..

The musical starts with the Mother Superior worried about lack of finances, and whether the Convent can continue to operate.
Then we experience the lovely nuns for the first time.
Skip to a nightclub, and we meet Delores, the star, a loud, brassy, nightclub singer who is revelling in fame and attention.
But she witnesses a murder, and is suddenly in danger of her life, and so she is hidden as a nun in the Convent to protect her.
And two very different worlds collide…

The three stars – Sandra Marvin as Delores, Lesley Joseph as Mother Superior and Lizzie Bea as Sister Mary Robert are superb

Even from the very beginning where the words ‘Sister Act’ were lit up and kept changing colour and sparkling you knew it was going to be a good show.

We thought that the set was extraordinarily good, the shape of it, an arc, and the way that it was made to show inside the Convent with the detailed stonework and pillars, but it changed so easily to a disco set.
And the disco lighting as it shone over the audience was fun as well and colourful. There were seamless changes

Steady Eddie the cop, turns out to have a beautifully deep, melodic and soulful voice – his solo when he ended up dancing on the table, was fantastic, and his change from the cop outfit to the white disco outfit and back to the cop outfit was superb.

The song, ‘sisters’ in the second half was particularly poignant – Dolores had realised that the friendship and community she had found was more important than fame and fortune and an empty life

Eventually, the gangsters catch up with Dolores, having seen her on the television leading the Sisters’ choir, which was getting famous.
Her ex-boyfriend points a gun at her, and the Sisters led by Mother Superior stand in front of her to protect her, so the gunman can’t get to her – this was really moving. They had embraced her as part of their family.

It was also wonderful that Dolores won over Mother Superior in the end.

The singing was so melodic and tuneful that the nuns accomplished after their singing lessons from Dolores – it made the second-half even more of a joy to listen to.
Mother Superior had some real punchlines, and the comedy was just wonderful including her shaving before prayer.. The writing was very clever, very funny especially the way she talked to God and then received answers to her prayers

The costumes were also amazing – Particularly those at the end where every nun had their own colour with glittery sparkles
We also appreciated the fact that many of the actors and actresses were plus size – there weren’t stick like figures all over the stage like in some shows – it seemed to celebrate different shapes and sizes in a very good way.

Towards the end, the sisters had to do a performance, and knew that the Pope himself was going to attend.
Surprise surprise, the conductor suddenly appeared dressed as the Pope! And it was hilarious.

At the end, everyone was on their feet for the last song, clapping and dancing and just enjoying a really good feel-good factor ending

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Sister Act is on at Milton Keynes Theatre from Monday 21st to Saturday 26th November
500 Marlborough Gate, Milton Keynes MK9 3NZ
Ticket prices start from £13.00 plus £3.65 booking fee and can be purchased here:

https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sister-act/milton-keynes-theatre/calendar/2022-11-21

Or call the Box Office on 0844 871 7615