An Audience Pleaser From STAGS MTC

Sister Act is a favourite amongst amateur theatre society’s since the rights were released, it is a difficult show, with complicated harmonies, dancing and even staging! The team behind St Augustine’s Musical Theatre Company have taken on a beast and brought a brilliant piece of theatre to the crowds in Solihull.
 
With a fully sold-out run ahead, it is clearly an audience pleaser and STAGS MTC has worked extremely hard on bringing this complex musical to life. A stellar cast of nuns are the centrepiece of this show, they are engaging, hilarious and utterly brilliant. Sister Mary Patrick is played with absolute gusto by Nicola Palfrey, with a beaming smile throughout and an endearing hyperactivity which really brings the character to life. Alice White also delivers a sterling performance as the timid Sister Mary Robert. Her voice effortlessly reached an abundance of high notes and her rendition of The Life I Never Led was perhaps one of the strongest I have seen on the amateur circuit.
 
Special mentions also to Sarah Furmage as Sister Mary Lazarus who delights in her role, with excellent comic timing she garnered many a laugh from the packed-out audience. As well as a commendable performance from Rachel Pattinson as the Mother Superior, and Diane Bennett who was hilarious as the ‘crazy’ nun, Sister Mary Martin of Tours.
 
The male cast supported well, with Kieran Corrigan, Davyd Bagby and Richard Haddock highly entertaining as the terrible trio of TJ, Pablo and Joey, led by a wily Richard Gosnay in the role of Curtis. Corrigan certainly has some suave dance moves! Another highlight was Nigel Jones who was fabulous as the Irish Monsignor and although a slightly nervy start from Robert Restell he confidently tackled Eddie’s big number I Could Be That Guy.
 
It is of course the leading lady that really shines. Such a demanding role for any performer, Loretta Parnell became Deloris with some fantastic acting and a powerful voice. One thing that you could not fault about her performance was her diction, some jokes that sometimes can get lost to an audience, she delivered excellently.
 
There were unfortunately times where the pace dropped, mainly due to some complicated staging, but the cast dealt with this exceedingly well and tried to regain the pace as quickly as they could. The beauty of this musical is that it is packed full of toe-tapping numbers that instantly lift the spirit and this ensemble were not afraid to take these big numbers on. Harmonies were crisp under the musical direction of Stephen Powell and Liane Hughe’s brought the big numbers to life through carefully crafted choreography, which was well-executed by the entire cast. All under the directorial hand of Veronica Walsh it was a beast to tackle, but tackle it they did.
 
Congratulations STAGS MTC and all the best for the rest of the run.