City Centre: September 19, 2017

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seek | find | indulge
CITY CENTRE
A scene from Sister Act
m usiC & C omedy
C omB ine in
stunning stage
show
The restored Isaac Theatre Royal in Gloucester
Street is again the venue for an exhilirating Showbiz
Christchurch production.
The final production in the company’s 2017 season,
Sister Act – A Divine Musical Comedy, follows the
exploits of 1970s wannabe disco diva Deloris Van
Cartier as she escapes from her gangster boyfriend.
Having witnessed him commit a murder she is put in
protective custody in the one place the cops are sure
she won’t be a found: a convent!
Disguised as a nun, Deloris finds herself at odds
with the rigid lifestyle of the nuns and their uptight
Mother Superior. using her unique disco moves and
singing talent, she inspires the nuns to create a more
contemporary choir and they become the hit of the
community.
Word of their success reaches her ex-boyfriend
Curtis, who arrives with his gang to settle the score
with Deloris.
Sister Act is directed and choreographed by New
Zealand Arts Foundation Laureate Sara Brodie, who
directed the Showbiz Christchurch season of Monty
Python’s Spamalot in 2015.
Sara has extensive directorial experience including
over 80 productions for theatre companies throughout
Australasia.
The score of rousing gospel and lively disco music
is by Alan Menken, a Tony and eight-time Oscar
winner, whose scores include Aladdin, Beauty and the
Beast, The Little Mermaid and Little Shop of Horrors,
and is directed by musician and composer Matthew
Everingham.
Monique Clementson plays Deloris, the role
she recently performed in the Invercargill Musical
Theatre’s production of Sister Act.
Nick Purdie performs the role of the gangster
boyfriend, Curtis Jackson. He played alongside
Clementson as Cop and love interest ‘Sweaty’ Eddie in
the Invercargill production. Jackson’s gang is played
by Chris Symon (TJ), Blair McHugh (Joey) and Rychalo
Thompson (Pablo). Matt McMenamin performs the
role of Eddie.
Charlotte Taylor and Greta Casey-Solly complete
Deloris’s cabaret trio in the roles of Michelle and Tina.
Veteran musical theatre and cabaret entertainer
Sarah Greenwood-Buchanan steps back on stage as
Mother Superior. Her most recent supporting lead
role was as Tanya in the sell-out Showbiz season of
Mamma Mia! The principal nuns are Hannah Falconer
(Sister Mary Robert), kate Taylor (Sister Mary Patrick),
Nickie Wellbourn (Sister Mary Lazarus), Anne-Marie
Cotton (Sister Mary Martin of Tours) and Glenda Bailey
(Sister Mary Theresa). Ian Lester plays Monsignor
O’Hara and Raoul Neave appears as the Pope.
Clementson and Purdie are joined on-stage by a cast
of more than 50 nuns, gangsters, altar boys, singers,
dancers and musicians to create a stunning looking
and sounding show with all the pizzazz of Broadway.
The Showbiz Christchurch production of Sister Act
- A Divine Musical Comedy is on at the Isaac Theatre
Royal until 23 September.