Julia LambTHTR 301113 October 2013Sister ActOn Saturday afternoon, I drove down to Denver to see the hilarious musical, Sister Act, on the second to last day of this particular production. Prior to purchasing tickets, I had no idea what this musical was about and I was very entertained throughout the entire production. Sister Act is about a young, African-American woman named Dolores van Cartier who is trying to find fame through singing and dancing, but she gets caught up in the middle of a murder case, caused by the married man she’s seeing. In order to avoid being caught as the witness, Dolores hides out in a convent with the help of high school friend and policeman, Eddie. Although she is initially displeased with the idea of pretending to be a nun for months, Dolores begins to help the nuns of the convent with their singing for the choir and becomes very close with her fellow “sisters.” The head nun, Sister Superior, does not like Dolores’s modern influence on the choir and eventually sends her away, but Dolores returns to the convent because she feels like she belongs there. Dolores and her murderer boyfriend, Curtis, eventually come face to face in an almost-deadly encounter, but the nuns and policeman Eddie save Dolores and arrest Curtis. Dolores and Eddie share a kiss and the nuns, even Sister Superior, are overwhelmed with excitement to welcome Dolores back into their world. In addition to Sister Act’s fun and suspenseful plot, the costumes used throughout the production and the differences in character development between the men and women, contributed to the success of this musical.In order for a production to be successful, it must display many key features like asteady balance between song, dance, and acting. But the aspect that stood out to me the most in this production of Sister Act was the costumes. Throughout the musical, Dolores’s character is known for wearing very flashy and revealing clothing, like a gold sequin top and over-the-knee purple, suede boots that she wears in the opening song “Take Me to Heaven.” Once she arrives at the convent, she has to give all her eccentric clothing to Sister Superior and exchange it for a long, conservative gown that all the nunswear. The youngest and most timid nun, Sister Mary Patrick, wears a different dress thanall the rest to emphasize her youth. Instead of a long-sleeve black gown, she wears a long-sleeve white shirt underneath a black tank top dress, making her seem much more juvenile than the others. As Dolores influences the convent with her upbeat singing in thechoir and rebellious actions, her clothing begins to influence the nuns as well. In the second act, the nuns wear sparkly gold scapular over their black habits (their long gowns), and the youngest nun kicks her feet to show off the purple suede boots that Dolores gave her. By the end of the production, the entire cast performs “Take Me To Heaven” again and they are all wearing silver and gold sparkly outfits with red hearts on the front to represent Dolores’s influence on their convent, in more ways than just the new singing style. Although this aspect is fairly minor in a large production like Sister Act, it made it more amazing to me as a viewer and gave me chills by the end. The costumes make a huge difference in character development because not only is Dolores’s influence obvious through the nuns actions and new singing style, but the attention to detail of the visual aspect of the costumes makes it much more successful.Aside from the elaborate costumes worn by all the women in this production, the overall character development of the men was not as touching as that of the women. When I first left the Performing Arts Center, I thought that the awkward dancing and less realistic acting of the men was a flaw of the production. However, now that I have reflected on the overall character development, I believe it was intentional to focus more on Dolores and the women of the convent and less on the rebellious men. Curtis and his two friends perform a few group songs, but the white guy’s dancing was off beat and the acting of the three men was not that great. I originally thought that this was just a poor choice in casting decisions, but as the policeman Eddie’s character is well-developed and loved by the audience, it was obvious that these flaws were intentional because of the antagonistic aspect of Curtis and his friends. Because these three men were nothing special, policeman Eddie’s humble actions stood out even more and he was loved almost as much as all the women in the production. Surprisingly, this lack of character development for the men contributed to the overwhelming success of this particular production of Sister Act. Aside from my new obsession with this musical by the end of the show, it was obvious that the audience fell in love with it as well. Sister Act is very comedic with its frequent witty comments and satiric references to pop culture, and many times the audience was laughing more than I was. Unfortunately, due to the dark theater and being prohibited to take notes on my phone, I don’t remember the specific references made to pop culture. However, I remember thinking that this production must have altered some dialogue in their script, at least since the 1992 movie premiere, because a lot of the satire was contemporary, like 2008-present. This happened fairly often throughout theproduction and it helped connect to the audience and make it even more modern. There were still racial and sexual issues that this production decided to keep, like the Hispanic friend of Curtis who speaks only Spanish (representing the overflow of Mexican immigration into this country seen in the 1990s), and the violence and abuse Curtis portrays toward Dolores. Compared to the movie made in 1992, this production of SisterAct seemed to focus more on the relationship between Dolores and the sisters of the convent, and less on Curtis’s affair with Dolores and his violent nature. The audience was definitely more engaged during scenes at the convent when Dolores and the nuns sing, and also during scenes with policeman Eddie declaring his undeniable love for Dolores. These reactions were obvious because the audience laughed and shouted more during these scenes and were quieter during scenes with Curtis and his friends. Prior to seeing Sister Act, I did not realize how important costumes and the