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Picture
Sister Act
Southend Operatic & Dramatic Society
The Palace Theatre 
12th-15th November 2014
Someone up above must have been listening to SODS’ prayers when they were desperate to cast the leading part of Deloris van Cartier in their latest production of Sister Act. Sharon Rose is one ‘sister’ that can definitely sing and from the second she opens her mouth to belt out the opening number, Take Me To Heaven, it’s blatantly obvious that those prayers were more than answered.

Sharon plays the part of Deloris, the disco diva wannabe, who inadvertently witnesses her gangster boyfriend Curtis commit a murder and, as a consequence, for her safety ends up being placed under the witness protection programme amongst the nuns in The Holy Order of the Little Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual Faith.  

I was told that Sharon had never acted before, although she clearly has a passion for music and says that she found her voice in church choirs at a young age.  I would never have believed that she hadn't performed in musical theatre before as she gave a most impressive all round performance and completely owned the stage every time she was on it and produced a very believable character in Deloris.

The show really got going for me once Deloris had been introduced to the nuns; and of them Liz Green and Laura Mann really stood out with their fantastic characterisations with Liz as the sarcastic grumpy nun, Sister Mary Lazarus and Laura as the highly overly excited Sister Mary Patrick.  Also perfectly cast was Charlotte Cox as the sweet young Sister Mary Roberts. Anne Barber was a joy as the irritated Mother Superior and Dick Davies as Monsignor O’Hara probably hammed it up a little more than was necessary in places for me, but still got plenty of laughs from the matinee audience.

Curtis played by Jonny Buxton and his not so perfect mob of gangsters, Joey, played by Ian Scoging, TJ, played by Declan Wright and Pablo, played by Joe Howlett, certainly gave us some cracking laughs in the show.  I particularly enjoyed When I Find My Baby and Lady In the Long Black Dress in Act 2, which I found hilarious.

Another great find for SODS is Ben Huish who’s portrayal of Eddie was a joy.  He plays the cop with no confidence, who has had a crush on Deloris since school days.  His vocal range is outstanding and was really shown off in I Could Be That Guy.  

The nuns really grab the limelight with their costumes (who says habits are boring?) and produce some great vocal harmonies.  

Ashton Moore as Musical Director produces some great sounds from the orchestra pit and staging and lighting worked really well.  Some simplistic but effective choreography from Vicky Wyatt too; which couldn’t have been easy with the added dancing restrictions of the nun’s habits to consider.  Ian Gilbert’s direction pointed towards a truly entertaining and uplifting show and as a first time director for SODS he should be very proud of his cast.

One of my favourite songs was Deloris’s soulful rendition of Sister Act towards the end of Act 2 which really pulls at the heart strings and reinforces her star quality. 

“Yes I love that spotlight” she sings - well, I’m pretty certain Sharon Rose won’t have a problem finding herself in the spotlight any time soon, for I feel this lady is sure to be bound for an amazing future.

Congratulations to the whole cast of SODS for another great show at The Palace Theatre and also for their great hospitality.

What the audience thought

Rose Malpass from Canvey Island

I always come to see SODS and all their shows are really good.  I loved La Cage.  I thought Deloris and Eddie were really good.

Hazel Myers from Canvey Island

The gang were really funny.  I got a bit teary in the Sister Act song near the end.

Rob Stow from Hadleigh

It was bloody brilliant.  I did think that some of the guys’ singing didn’t hit the same level as the girls though.  Sharon Rose was amazing and I thought that Liz Green as Sister Mary Lazarus was brilliant.

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