Sister Act

There are actually a number of surprising things about Sister Act--some good, some less so. It's not like it's based on the best movie in the world, but I have to admit that I do love it, especially the silly but endearing numbers changing old Motown songs into Christian anthems. "My Girl" into "My God" is a genius piece of musical fluff. So perhaps the biggest surprise of the show is that none of the numbers from the movie are replicated. Every song in the show is a new composition. And while I feel like it should be heartening that the musical isn't simply a recreation of the movie on stage, I actually find it a bit baffling that the best and most theatrical bits didn't make it onto the stage.

It's a happier surprise that the show isn't star cast. In the lead role of Delores is Patina Miller making her Broadway debut. I saw he a few years ago in Shakespeare in the Park's Hair, belting out "Aquarius" and "Let the Sunshine In," and she's got a booming, beautiful voice. It's lovely to see her get such a huge role so early in her career. That said, I kept waiting for her to have a big, belty number to really sink her teeth into, and it never arrived. At a certain point, she's talking about her murderous ex, Curtis, and all I could think of was the exchange, "Curtis was supposed to..." "Love me. Curtis was supposed to love me," which kicks of Dreamgirls' "And I'm Telling You." It's not necessarily a great sign when you're thinking how good someone would be in a different show than the one you're watching. But I sure would love to hear her rip into that number.

Further surprises: that the show has been set in the 70s, giving male supporting characters the chance to to bust out their best Bee-Gees falsettos. That instead of moving Delores across the country to put her in witness protection, she's now kept in the same town , making her appallingly easy to find and all of the characters look like idiots. That anyone thought the finale, featuring more sequins than Liberace's closet, was anything other than an assault on the eyes. And when I, of all people, think you overdid the sequins? BAD SIGN.

But the final surprise is that in the end, even with all of the missteps, the show is still sweetly entertaining, often laugh out loud funny, and (though thin and dopey) still a totally entertaining evening. The one-liners are groan-inducing, the sets are deeply unattractive, and the music largely unmemorable, but at the same time, through sheer force of will by the fantastic ensemble, you are pretty much required to crack a smile and have fun. Maybe because this season featured a couple of truly terrible shows, I'm grading on a curve. Maybe because the show just tries so hard when it could have just replicated the movie and been done with it. Or maybe just because the casting is, to a person, perfect. Whatever the reason, I walked out with a smile on my face and goodwill toward the show.

Also, I can't not mention two performances. Sarah Bolt, in the Kathy Najimy role, cracked my shit up as did Demond Green as Curtis's cousin TJ. Neither is a huge role, but they are both comic perfection. In the midst of a lot of talented actors, no one rivaled these two for comic timing or sheer brightness of personalit