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A CurtainUp Los Angeles Review
Sister Act
By Jon Magaril
E Clayton Cornelious and Ta'Rea Campbell
Photo: Joan Marcus |
A respectable Broadway run and national tour wasn't exactly ordained when the show made its rough-shod debut in 2006 at the Pasadena Playhouse. But Sister largely got its act together when it took the long road to London. Anthony Van Laast, the new choreographer, and the crackerjack new design team of Klara Zieglerova (sets), Lez Brotherson (costumes) and Natasha Katz (lighting) provided significant improvements. Patina Miller, promoted from the Pasadena understudy (and a newly crowned Tony winner for Pippin), brought assurance and a solid gold set of pipes to the lead role of Deloris Van Cartier.
On tour, Ta-Rae Campbell sings just as beautifully and has a more effortless way with the laugh lines. Most importantly, she's got more warmth. When the show proved a medium-sized hit on the West End, the producers bravely chose to change things up. They made the cardinal sin, though, of not recognizing what they had and what it should be. Warmth and star quality were the key.
In the film, Whoopi Goldberg, wired and witty and essentially sweet, put a distinctive spin on the high concept of a worldly witness to murder hiding out in a nunnery. Her unique presence created a big enough umbrella to unite the material's contrasting, and in some respects incompatible, elements.
Only Broadway replacement Raven-Symone, with a star presence, vulnerability, and solid gold comic chops, has come close to having a similar salutary effect. When new director Jerry Zaks took the reins of the musical en route to Broadway, he didn't focus on the cast or the relationships between characters. He and his new writer Douglas Carter Beane instead devised clunky new plot points, random jokes, and a much broader tone for the nuns. For instance, their charming first song "How I Got the Calling" was replaced by the cartoonish burlesque "It's Good to Be a Nun."
Fortunately the performances haven't gotten even larger for the tour. Florrie Bagel as Sister Mary Patrick, Lael Van Keuren as Sister Mary Robert, and Diane J Findlay as Sister Mary Lazarus follow the film portrayals very closely but they do so with aplomb. Hollis Resnik, in fine voice and sharp tongue as the principled Mother Superior, and Kingsley Leggs repeating his Broadway performance as bad guy Curtis, contribute a welcome gravitas.
The cold-blooded criminal presents the biggest challenge to the stage adaptation. Murder and threats of bodily harm are commonplace in film, so it's easier to accept them side-by-side with humor. They're rare though in comic musicals (The same problem besets Ghost, another Goldberg film that's made the transition to the stage).
In Pasadena and London, the solution was to place the story in the stylized urban context of '70's blaxploitation films. The choice carried the potential of giving offense, especially since none of the principal creators is African-American. It gave the score a stylistic POV, dipping into disco and R&B grooves that evoke the period. And it allowed the action plot to be simultaneously scary and funny.
Zaks downplays that angle. He's more comfortable with typical musical comedy tropes. Robbed of its original context, Curtis' song "When I Find My Baby," which takes a Luther Vandross style tale of romantic ardor to dangerous extremes, doesn't quite land. He and the barflys who hang out next the church lack definition.
His henchman, played by Todd A. Horman, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Pruneda, are now generic comic types but that doesn't keep the accomplished trio from making a showstopper out of "Lady in the Long Black Dress," a primer on how to pick up a nun.
"Sweaty Eddie," the policeman desk jockey who's also Deloris' suitor, has been saddled with a pile of dork clichés. For instance, the poor guy's forced to snort whenever he laughs. As compensation, he's been given the one piece of staging magic. More importantly, E. Clayton Cornelious smartly plays him with straight sincerity.
Campbell also has her winning ways. But unlike Deloris, she doesn't seem to feel she owns the stage by divine right. In a tell-tale sign, every time Campbell sings down front that she's "Fabulous, Baby" in her infectious anthem, she demurely closes her eyes. Campbell is one eye-opening move, with an accompanying dose of belief, from giving the star performance the show requires.
Its current state has not fulfilled the promise it showed in its debut here seven years ago. Nonetheless, it has improved. With lovely performances and a rousing score, Sister Act earns its place in our good graces. It's a helluva lot of fun.
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Sister Act Music by Alan Menken Lyrics by Glenn Slater Book by Cheri Steinkellner & Bill Steinkellner Additional Book Material by Douglas Carter Beane Based on the Screenplay by Joseph Howard Directed by Jerry Zaks Choreographed by Anthony Van Laast Cast: Ta'Rea Campbell, Hollis Resnick, Florrie Bagel, Charles Barkdale, E. Clayton Cornelious, Diane J Findlay, Tood A. Horman, Kingsley Leggs, Richard Pruitt, Ernie Pruneda, Lael Van Keuren Scenic Designer - Klara Zieglerova Costume Designer - Les Brotherson Lighting Designer - Natasha Katz Sound Designer - Ken Travis Music Supervisor - Michael Kosarin Running time: Two hours and forty-five minutes including one intermission Through July 28 at the Pantages Theatre 6233 Hollywood Boulevard Los Angeles, 90028 800-982-ARTS 800-982-2787 www.broadwayla.org August 6 through 18 at Segerstrom Center for the Arts 600 Town Center Drive Costa Mesa, CA 92626 (714) 556-2787 www.scfta.org Reviewed by Jon Magaril |
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