Casey Donovan spearheads a sparkling cast in spirited show full of uplifting silliness
By Cameron Woodhead
MUSICALS
SISTER ACT ★★★★
Music: Alan Menken, Lyrics: Glenn Slater, Book: Cheri & Bill Steinkellner
Regent Theatre, until January 26
Opening in Melbourne with Casey Donovan in her first lead role on stage, the Sister Act musical is a prayer answered.
Casey Donovan (centre) leads the cast of Sister Act.Credit: Daniel Boud
It’s a chance to rise above the miseries of the earthly realm with an evening of uplifting silliness and solidarity and song – guided by the voice that first captivated the soul of a nation when Donovan won Australian Idol in 2004 at the tender age of 16.
Nuns have long been in the habit of inspiring criminally comic films, from The Blue Brothers (1980) to Nuns on the Run (1990), but it took Whoopi Goldberg and the late Maggie Smith going toe to toe in Sister Act (1992) for a whole convent to steal the spotlight and raise musical humour to the heavens.
The funny and charming romp feels adapted for the stage almost by divine commandment from the gods of musical theatre. Its comic collision of life on the wild side and in the cloister gets the full Broadway treatment.
There are a thousand sequins for every rosary bead; cartoonish criminals and a discordant nun’s choir that would split the ears of God; a good-natured fusion of religious parody and razzmatazz which denies no spiritual calling – that finds courage and agency and love in the friendship of women and the unifying power of music.
Genevieve Lemon in Sister Act.Credit: Daniel Boud
Donovan carries the show on firm shoulders as Deloris Van Cartier, the ex-Catholic schoolgirl turned lounge singer who reluctantly disguises herself as a nun when she’s forced into witness protection at a convent after witnessing her gangster boyfriend (James Bryers) commit murder.
It’s touching to watch Donovan step into the limelight with such aplomb. She has the kind of comedic and vocal talent – most evident from recent supporting roles in Chicago and & Juliet – that’s been itching for a main billing for years, and there’s undeniable comedic chemistry in the central double-act.
Her Deloris is a wonderfully big-hearted loose unit, and a perfect foil to the dry crustiness of Genevieve Lemon’s Mother Superior.
The nuns carve out a chorus of comedic character parts – Rhonda Burchmore’s Sister Mary Lazarus rapping to old school hip-hop in Latin, or Sophie Montague’s adorable postulant finding her feet in kinky boots, or Bianca Bruce’s Sister Mary Patrick learning to curb her deafening (if infectious) enthusiasm for the Lord, so humans can stand to listen, too.
Casey Donovan as Deloris Van Cartier in Sister Act.Credit: Daniel Boud
Raphael Wong as romantic interest Eddie is funny to the last cell, combining goofy physical comedy with fine vocals; his gorgeous showstopper, in which he steps from awkward and unconfident cop to disco superstar and back again, is a scream.
James Bryers’ gangster villain moves smoothly into menace and James Bell, Jordan Angelides and Tom Struik are an amusing triple-threat as cartoonish goons.
Sister Act might take a few beats to start rolling, and the set design doesn’t have the wow-factor of some major musicals but seeing Casey Donovan spearheading a cast with so many talented performers will gladden hearts. It’s a joy to watch a feel-good musical that does exactly what it says on the box.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead
John Bachelor as a mermaid in Peter and the Starcatcher.Credit: Daniel Boud
THEATRE
PETER AND THE STARCATCHER ★★★★
BY RICK ELICE
Arts Centre Melbourne, Until December 1
Imaginative prequels to children’s classics can be golden opportunities for stage and screen adaptation. Gregory Maguire’s elaborate backstory to The Wizard of Oz became a global sensation when it was transformed into the musical Wicked, now a film too, and Peter and the Starcatcher casts a spell of similar fascination and wonderment using J.M. Barrie’s eternal boy, Peter Pan.
Adapting the 2006 novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson, Peter and the Starcatcher is a show the kidult demographic will embrace, though if you’ve never wished you could never grow up you are probably too boring for this spectacular adventure.
This is inherently theatrical source material (Peter Pan was a play before novels appeared) and the show’s essentially a pantomime with an all-star cast and a budget the size of a pirate-hoard.
Olivia Deeble as Molly, Benjin Maza as Ted and Morgan Francis as Prentiss in Peter and the Starcatcher.Credit: Daniel Boud
No buckle is left unswashed in this origin story of Neverland. Visual elements create an immersive fantasy world through mobile set design, marvellous puppetry, colourful costume, mysterious stage illusion and lighting effects, and a smattering of circus and song.
Weaving seamlessly between live action and choric narrative, the tale of two very different teenagers, Molly (Olivia Deeble) and Peter (Otis Dhanji), unfolds. She’s been raised by a lord of the realm to be super amazingly talented at everything; he’s a neglected and brutalised orphan who cannot remember his name, if he ever had one.
Molly’s father (Alison Whyte) is on a secret mission for Queen Victoria involving a dangerous supernatural substance; Molly and Peter meet at sea when it goes awry. After a cunning switcheroo, they launch a high-seas adventure to an unexplored island that unravels the mystery behind every character in J.M. Barrie’s classic.
You’ll enjoy learning how Peter Pan came to be accompanied by the Lost Boys (Morgan Francis and Benjin Maza) and Tinkerbell. Comic antics reach fever pitch in the tale of how the villainous Captain Hook (in a hilarious performance from Colin Lane) and his sidekick Smee (Pete Heliar) first arrived in Neverland. It’s riotous fun to watch comedians going full panto mode – Heliar in a mermaid costume ukulele in hand; Lane corpsing his way to glory after being heckled by an audience member. Paul Capsis, Lucy Goleby, John Batchelor, and Ryan Gonzalez all add to the hilarity in a production that demonstrates exactly why the show won five Tony Awards on Broadway, while also letting the slickness slide into a distinctly Australian flavour of suburban pantomime that makes it unique.
Fans of comedy should have a great time and as theatre in the style of “a play with songs”, it’s terrifically accomplished. There’s a generous amount of merriment thrown in for adults that’ll fly over the heads of younger children (and there weren’t too many of them in the opening night audience) but it’s a trip to Neverland with more than enough magical storytelling and visual enchantment to entertain everyone.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead
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