Sister Act raises the roof at Rugby Theatre
- 10 hours ago
- 3 min read
Sister Act: The Musical, at Rugby Theatre from 29 July - 2 August 2026. Director Janet Devenish, Murical Director Jonathan Rees.
Review by Ann Evans
Rugby Theatre’s Youth Project have done it again! These talented young singers. dancers and actors aged between 10 and 21 have produced another brilliant show after just 10 days of rehearsals.
Sister Act: The Musical is packed with humour, high energy, fabulous characterisation and sensational singing. With around 90 young people taking part in the show, it’s an impressive accomplishment to even get the choreography worked out, which often had everyone performing at once, using every inch of the stage and both aisles of the auditorium. And if you’ve never seen such a huge number of nuns in their black and white habits, bopping and singing, then you’re in for a treat! Choreographer was Craig Scott.
As most people know, Sister Act sees glamorous disco diva Deloris Van Cartier being placed in a convent for her own safety after witnessing a shooting. Curtis and his gang are the crooks, who are out to get Deloris to stop her testifying against him in court. Meanwhile Deloris is making her presence known amongst the nuns and turning life in the convent upside down!
The show has two teams of actors playing the major roles on alternative evenings, and I’m sure both sets of actors are equally as good. However, on my evening Deloris was played by Martha Mae Brown who was brilliant in the role – full of confidence and personality with a voice that really raised the rafters. Connie Graham, seen in the photos takes over the role on alternative evenings.
Great singing also from the Mother Superior – Leah Hobson (on the night) and Megan Gyles on alternate nights. The poor Mother Superior is having a tough time keeping her nuns under control once Deloris became one of the Sisters.
In her normal life Deloris is a nightclub singer, and with a totally out of tune convent choir, who really need a miracle to get them to sing in harmony, Deloris sets about doing that – and succeeding, along with teaching them a few sexy hip gyration dance moves too – much to the horror of Mother Superior.
The storyline goes deeper however, and as the Youth Project’s founder, Phil Kettle says, “Sister Act is a celebration of finding your voice – sometimes in the most unexpected places. At its heart, it's about courage, community and the power of music to bring people together.”
Another fabulous singer was Isabella Prag playing Sister Mary Robert. Her co-actor was Surlyah Mawee. What a voice Isabella has! And we can’t forget the guys. Good performances and good singing from Alfie Turner who plays gangster Curtis, with Seth Bayliss taking over on alternate nights; and lawman Eddie – Ollie Walsh on the night and Adam Ellis on alternate nights.
There was plenty of action too, with some fun ‘fights’ between the crooks and the nuns when they came after Deloris.
Hats off also to the set designers and scenery makers, which also included some of the youth members, as the sets looked authentic and effective. Also the costume makers – I’d love to know how many metres of black material went into producing so many nun’s habits! And great sparkly tunics and veils for the finale scenes which were fun.
An excellent show, and these young students plus everyone behind the scenes should be very proud of their achievements.
See www.rugbytheatre.co.uk or call the Rugby Theatre box office on 01788 541234 for tickets.
