REVIEW: Sister Act (Tour)

Ok, I'm going to go a little uncharicteristic here and single out one person right from the beginning. Ashley Moniz. Ashley played the role of Sister Mary Robert, the sweet, innocent little "goodie-two-shoes" nun. And she. Was. Awesome. I haven't heard a voice that good in a very very long time. And trust me, I've heard a lot of voices. Ashley had such a pleasantly crisp voice, and she hit every...single...note. Every one, right on. No sliding into a note. No using vibrato to cover up a missed note. No completely missing the note. Just pure, amazing pitch. And it wasn't just her pitch that was amazing. Everything about her voice was just spectacular. I'll say it again... She has the best voice I've heard in a long long time. This girl should never stop singing.

Normally I wouldn't open a review in this fashion, but I feel so strongly about Ashley's talent that I just had to put it first. I could go on and on (and on) about how great she was, but I think you get the idea. Plus, there's a whole lot more show to cover!

So the gist of the show is this: Diva sees boyfriend kill someone. Diva runs to police. Police officer is high school acquaintance who had crush on diva in high school. In order to keep diva safe, police officer decides to hide her where boyfriend would never think to look for her - in a convent. Diva is obviously is not used to convent life and causes some trouble. Diva ends up helping nun choir and turns them into a sensation, which brings in lots of money for the struggling church. Boyfriend finds out where diva is hiding and goes to find her. Police officer goes to try to save diva. If you haven't seen it yet, I'll let you guess which guy wins.

This was one of the better touring shows I've seen in a long time. Some of the tours I've seen in the past few years just seem to be lacking in overall quality and talent. But Sister Act had both.

What really impressed me was the talent of the entire cast, not just one or two leads. A lot of people needed to sing well in order for this show to work. And a lot of people did just that.

So here's something kind of amusing... At first, the nuns are supposed to be terrible singers. They're basically a bunch of nuns who couldn't carry a tune if their life depended on it. What I found amusing was this group of professional singers "trying" to sound bad. I'm guessing these "bad singing" scenes were some of the hardest scenes for them to perform. It goes against every grain in a performer's body to sing off key, and I could tell that these singers really had to work at this! But that just goes to show the quality of the vocals in this show.

Vocals aside, the acting was another strong point in the show. In many musicals I've seen recently, it seems like you either get good singing or good acting, but not both (and sometimes you don't even get one of them). Sister Act again had both. Each role was perfectly cast.

Ta'Rea Campbell, who played Deloris Van Cartier / Sister Mary Clarence, was another shining star in the show. (And she was literally shining in some of her outfits! I don't think I've ever seen a show with such a shiny and sparkly wardrobe. And I mean this in a good way... The costumes were simply dazzling.) I could tell right from the start that Ta'Rea was perfect for this role. Her acting was spot-on, as was her singing.

Chestor Gregory put on a great performance as (Sweaty) Eddie. When he started the song "I Could Be That Guy," I wasn't quite sure what to think. Was he being funny? Was he really not a good singer? To be honest, it was a little awkward. But as the song went on, I started to feel more comfortable with his performance. By the end of the song, when he was hitting those falsetto notes, I had completely forgotten about the awkwardness from the beginning of the song. The rest of his performance throughout the show proved to be more like the end of the song than the beginning.

Hollis Resnik, who played the role of Mother Superior, was a powerful actress and singer. She had a good voice, but her pitch was off more than once. Because her voice was so strong, and because she was on pitch most of the time, it was an unpleasant surprise when she slipped off pitch and was very noticeable. She also had a unique way of pronouncing some words, which was a bit distracting. Maybe she was just having an off night. I'm going to go with that because I think most people would describe her as extremely talented.

The rest of the cast, from Melvin Abston as Curtis (the boyfriend) to the rest of the nuns, and even TJ and Pablo (Curtis's comic sidekicks), did a great job pulling the show together for an amazing production.

Another aspect of the show that I enjoyed was the humor. While I expected the show to be amusing, I was pleasantly surprised with how often I found myself laughing. Hard. And out loud. And I'm not even Catholic. While the basic religion jokes were pretty funny, I could tell there were some Catholic jokes thrown in there that just went over my head. But judging by the laughter from the rest of the audience, those jokes were pretty funny as well.

Overall I give this show 9 out of 10 standing ovations! 

 (This review is based on the February 25, 2014 performance at Hershey Theatre.)

Which Broadway Musical Are You?

Have you noticed that the Internet is currently flooded with all sorts of online quizzes? Yeah, I've noticed that too.

Want to know which Disney princess you are? There's a quiz for that. Want to kmow what kind of drink you are? Yep, there's a quiz for that too. (In case you're wondering, I'm a fine glass of wine.) Want to know what city you should live in? Well, if for some reason you can't figure that out on your own, there's a quiz that will help you. And I'm guessing there's even a quiz to tell you which quizzes you should take.

So with all these quizzes floating around the Internet, I figure what's one more? That's right... In addition to blogging, playing the vibra-slap, and touching my nose with my tongue, I can now add "quiz making" to my résumé of incredibly useful skills that I'm sure will help me succeed in life.

Without further ado, I present to you the "Which Broadway Musical Are You?" quiz. Whether you've lost countless hours of precious sleep pondering this very question, or whether you're just trying to pass some time at work, this quiz will help you out. Happy quizzing!



Ok, admit it... you tried to touch your nose with your tongue. (And yes, I really can do it.)

All I Ask of You

This past weekend, the college theatre department where I work part time was putting on a production. During one of the performances, our house manager had to ask a patron to stop playing games on his phone. Twice. Ummmm....maybe he just forgot that he was in a theatre watching a live performance. Twice.

With this recent experience still fresh in my mind, I decided to come up with a list of things not to do during a theatre performance. I thought most of these were common sense, but just in case anyone is looking for a crash course in theatre etiquette, this should give you a pretty good overview.

1. Don't play Flappy Bird on your phone. Or Angry Birds. Or any kind of birds game. Or candy game. Or farm game. Or pets game. Ok, you get the idea...just put the phone down for a few hours. What's going on onstage is a million times better than any game on your phone anyway.

I know the birds are addicting, but Flappy Bird can wait a few hours.

2. Don't sleep during the show. Yes, I have actually seen this happen before. The performers are probably even more tired than you are, but they're up there performing their butts off, so the least you can do is stay awake to watch them. Plus, your snoring is bothering the other people around you who are actually watching the show.

They're called "cat naps" for a reason. Please save yours for before or after the show, not during.

3. And speaking of the people around you, please don't sing along to the songs. I wish I could list this one more than once. This may come as a shock, but the other audience members are here to hear the people on stage...not you. I realize you love the music to the show and that you've memorized every song. But this isn't your shower. Or your car. I'm sure there is a nice karaoke bar just around the corner where you can showcase your amazing rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" after the show. 

Don't be that person. You know, the second one from the right. And yes, humming counts as singing, too.

4. Don't unwrap 50 candies during the show. I appreciate that you're trying to avoid bad breath. Really, I do. But since you won't be singing during the show you probably don't need to worry about it right now. If you're really that worried about it, then there's this wonderful thing called intermission that is the perfect time to unwrap candies, mints, gum, cheeseburgers, birthday presents or whatever else you managed to bring into the theatre in your purse.

They might be little, but those tiny crinkly wrappers sure make a lot of noise, especially in a quiet theatre!

I really don't think I'm asking too much with these four simple requests. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap and then play some games on my phone BEFORE I head out to the theatre...

Tell Me on a Thursday

If you live anywhere in the Northeast U.S., like I do, I'm guessing you have a few choice words you'd like to say to Mother Nature. After weeks of extreme cold, snowstorms and ice on top of it all, she's not exactly on my list of favorites right now. I don't think my kids have had a full week of school since before Christmas, and as much as I love them, we're all ready for some spring weather.

With today being the second snow day of the week (and it's only Wednesday), I gave in and let the boys play video games, watch movies and beat each other up for most of the day. While the boys were occupied with wrestling matches, crushing candies and watching cheeseburgers and meatballs fall out of the TV sky, I was busy putting some final touches on a fun Facebook idea that I've been working on.

I'm excited to announce the launch of "Thursday Theatre Thoughts," an interactive weekly series that will contemplate a different theatre topic each Thursday. Some topics will be fun, while others may be controversial. Whatever the topic, I'd love to hear your thoughts each week!

If you haven't "liked" row L seat 1 on Facebook yet, make sure to do so so that you don't miss out on the fun! Make sure to check in each Thursday to share your Theatre Thoughts!

Let's talk theatre!