THEATRE REVIEW: Sister Act at Rotherham Civic Theatre

Ella Foxton as Deloris and the cast of Sister Act

I HAVE heard onothing but great things about Rotherham-based Yorkshire Performance Preparation Academy and after the opening night of their latest production, I now know why!

What a performance it was....the music was heavenly, the stage design was simple, yet effective and everyone on stage pulled out a class act to be proud of.

The audience looks on as disco diva Deloris Van Cartier witnesses her bad boy lover Curtis shooting a man dead.

She is then put into hiding in a convent by police detective Eddie Souther (who she knows from her school days), until she can testify against him in court.

Getting off to a rocky start, a struggling Deloris is told to join the church choir alongside a bunch of nuns who can’t sing.

Can the lady of the stage herself turn these little ducklings into swans?

You’ll have to see the production to find out the answer to this question and see how Deloris copes with sharing the limelight.

Every single person on stage puts their blood, sweat and tears into the show and I am struggling to find a single real flaw or error to mention.

And after seeing the 1992 smash hit film many times, I have to say the young YPPA cast do all the parts justice.

A massive well done to them all, but I must single out the fantastic performances of leading ladies Ella Foxton (Deloris) and Summer Williams (Mother Superior).

They are both making their stage debuts but you’d never know — they own the stage with grace and professionalism.

Grace Castle (Sister Mary Robert,) Declan Osborne (Eddie Souther) and Callen Wilson (Curtis Jackson) all pull out some amazing solo vocals, too.

To my delight, there is a lot of comedy to enjoy, especially from Curtis’s assistants, Joey (Sam Simmons), TJ (Dillon Batley) and Pablo (Adam Wigglesworth), as well as Monsignor O’Hara (Luke Harriot), Sister Mary Patrick (Olivia Haslam) and Sister Mary Theresa (Nell Stroughair).

Not to mention the surprise rapping nun Sister Mary Lazarus (Millie May Gatley), who kept me entertained throughout.

Hats off as well to the back-stage crew — it’s clear how much hard work and preparation has gone into this production and it wouldn’t be such a success without them.

One of the best shows I’ve seen at the Civic, this production gets one massive Hallelujah from me!