Theatre / bloc
Review: Sister Act, Hippodrome
BLOC is an amateur society dedicated to producing one hit musical every year and performing their very big gig at the Bristol Hippodrome. How much blood, sweat, tears and nervous energy must that process generate?
This is not the first BLOC show I’ve seen and some haven’t been great. So it’s with great pleasure and some relief that I can report Sister Act to be a triumph – a real cracker. It’s full of great performances delivering all the gusto of the original movie. It’s a big, ambitious undertaking that succeeds on just about every level. It’s certainly better than some professional shows that have come to the Hippodrome in the past year.
Sister Act is an ensemble piece that relies on top quality from all the supporting players, but the lead – Emma Watkins as Deloris – is just sensational. This is a tour de force performance – great voice, bursting with personality, genuine star quality.
Right up there with her are Simon Vardakis as Sweaty Eddie the hero cop, Faye Banks as Mother Superior and Grace McDonald as Sister Mary Robert – not a weak turn from any of them – and that praise could continue right down the cast list.
I don’t know what these people do when they’re not in BLOC shows but they must have dreams of one day hitting the big time. Many, many here deserve it.
There are a couple of problems with Sister Act. It doesn’t have the one big, memorable song that define great musicals – but that`s hardly BLOC’s fault – while a couple of scene transitions were a bit laboured. I suspect they’ll be ironed out.
Standout moments include Sweaty Eddie unexpectedly bursting into an hilarious John Travolta style dance routine, the choir of gospel Nuns (properly funny) juxtaposed with a group of hopelessly deluded gangsters (cue another great dance routine), sets that look impossibly impressive for an amateur society and – I have to say it again – Emma Watkins, who`s worth the ticket price alone.
Sister Act continues at Bristol Hippodrome until Sat 1 Nov. For more info and to book tickets, visit http://www.atgtickets.com/shows/sister-act/bristol-hippodrome/
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