One of the things I like most about my crazy and complicated life is how I often find myself immersed in simultaneous projects that seem like they come from two different hemispheres, if not two different planets. Case in point: this past spring, as I was caught up in the craziness of Carthage’s production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, I was also serving as music director of the Racine Theatre Guild’s production of the musical Sister Act, based on the well-known film starring Whoopi Goldberg.
I must confess that when I heard that this was the spring musical at the RTG, I was not exactly doing cartwheels. Although I found the movie mildly entertaining, it bothered me that the heart of the story seemed to be about how these tired, stodgy nuns were really in trouble until this worldly woman from the wrong side of the tracks shook up their world and woke them up. It seems like Hollywood returns to this tired formula again and again …. where the uptight rule-follower finds their life changed dramatically for the better by a creative, flamboyant free spirit who shows them what real living is. Maybe it’s because I’m sort of an uptight rule-follower myself that this story line bugs me as much as it does. And in this particular case, a plot that seemed to suggest that traditional church music can’t hold a candle to the modern stuff really rubbed me wrong. So I was fully prepared to just grit my teeth and bear it until this show was done and I could wash my hands of it.
I am here to tell you that I was dead wrong about this show and that being part of it turned out to be one of the happiest experiences I’ve ever had at the Racine Theater Guild. First of all, there was an exceptional energy that was already present in the auditions. There are certain shows that just seem to get people excited about being in them, and Sister Act was definitely such a show. What was hard was having to turn away so many people who wanted so badly to be part of the show, especially a number of talented African-American women who auditioned for the main role of Deloris van Cartier (the Whoopi Goldberg part.) Several of them told us in one way or another that the character of Doris was the role of a lifetime for them and that they felt spiritually ‘called’ to come and audition. (It’s an interesting position to be to have to tell such a person that despite their sense of being called to sing the role, we were hearing a very different call.) And beyond the lead role, we had all kinds of other women who were excited at the prospect of being in our ensemble of nuns …. and they included 5 or 6 actual real-life nuns! (Most of the nuns who auditioned sang quite well but were not nearly so strong as dancers, and with such a dance-heavy show, that was a deal-breaker. But it was great to have so many of them come out for the auditions- and their enthusiasm about the show was a pretty strong indication that there was nothing objectionable or heretical about the show and its storyline.) Anyway, the result of all of this interest was that we could cast a spectacularly skilled nun’s chorus that was also an ideal mix of RTG veterans and newcomers.
The show, which features music by the prolific composer Alan Menken, is actually much more moving than the original movie. In a nutshell, an aspiring singer named Deloris van Cartier witnesses a murder committed by her sleazy boyfriend, and when she goes to the police for help and protection, they end up placing her in a local convent where they believe she will be safe. Deloris is not exactly cut out for the regimented, reverent life of a nun and rebels in all sort of ways. Where she makes the biggest splash, however, is when she lends her own unique energy and passion to the nuns’ choir- and when their livelier music begins to draw more and more people into the parish, which in turn attracts the attention of the media, Deloris’s boyfriend discovers where she is and comes to get her and silence her once and for all. But in a truly powerful and deeply affecting gesture of affection and loyalty, the nuns stand with Deloris in defiance of her boyfriend – and her life is saved. The book is hilariously funny- many of the songs are clever and catchy – and the climactic final scene is downright amazing and would almost never fail to bring me to tears. And thanks to the skilled direction of Doug Instenes, I think we were really able to tap into the emotional richness of the show.
Beyond the show itself, I need to acknowledge the fantastic chemistry of the cast – and the crew as well. Aside from a bumpy moment or two, it was one of those cases of a lot of extremely talented people working beautifully together to achieve the best possible performance. And leading the way were our two leads, Robbyn Wilks as the Mother Superior and Jasmine Ridgell as Deloris van Cartier, whose frosty, tense onstage relationship was completely at odds with the offstage warmth of these two women. Robbyn is a loyal veteran of the RTG, but Jasmine was a newcomer- and frankly, it’s not often that we will entrust a role this huge to someone brand new to the Guild, no matter how spectacular their audition might be. It’s just too big a gamble because there isn’t any way to know what they are going to be like in terms of getting along with the rest of the cast, being kind and appreciative to the crew, etc. – all things that we care a lot about at the Guild. (You really have to care about that sort of thing in the world of community theater.) Fortunately, our choreographer, Mary Leigh Sturino, had worked with Jasmine in another production and told us that she was a complete joy to work with – and with that recommendation, we felt completely confident that she would be a perfect Jasmine for us … and she was! But she was just the tip of a most impressive iceberg! We were really blessed to have a cast just brimming with both talent and commitment – and an exceptionally skilled crew … plus the collegial spirit that makes community theater work.
By the way, there are some storylines within the libretto of Sister Act that really make it a richer show. I loved the character of Eddie, who is the mild-mannered (and occasionally bumbling) police officer who very much like Deloris and is committed to protecting her. His nickname is “Sweaty Eddie,”and his nickname is mostly a reflection of how nervous he sometimes gets; he also sees himself as a bland person compared to so many people around him who seem to be much more exciting. It’s a character that is tricky to bring off, but Norgie Metzinger did a great job of portraying him in a way that felt authentic and very moving – as well as funny. Our group of bad guys were a colorful group, and there was something especially intriguing about the head villain of the show (the man who commits the murder that Deloris witnesses) being so believably played by Bob Benson, one of the nicest people I know. (I guess that’s why they call it acting.) And I really like how the nuns are not generically drawn; they are a fascinating array of personality types and range from the very young to the very ancient – and the women portraying our nuns were a spectacular group. I especially love the character of Sister Mary Robert, a brand new nun who at first is quite wary of the musical changes that Deloris is bringing to the choir. (All of the nuns are wary but they rather quickly warm up to what Deloris doing; ironically, it is this youngest of the nuns who is the most reluctant to embrace this more contemporary kind of singing.) This reminds me of an amazing moment when I stopped by one of Mary Leigh’s dance rehearsals. They were working on the “Raise Your Voice” number where the nuns are first introduced to Deloris’s kind of singing. As I watched from the side, I immediately noticed that Waverly McCollum, our Sister Mary Robert, was sitting in her seat looking very unhappy- and since this was her very first time in an RTG show, I immediately started worrying that maybe she was feeling lonely or left out or that there was something about the rehearsal that made her upset. A few moments later, Waverly leapt to her feet and began singing joyously …. and I realized that she had been sitting there looking forlorn because that’s what she was supposed to do in this scene- and she had been so believable in doing so that I was sure she was genuinely upset about something. The next day when I had a music rehearsal with all of the nuns, I made sure to tell of them this story as a way of saying how impressed I was with Waverly as an actress and how theatrically committed she had been even in rehearsal. By the way, in the middle of act two, Sister Mary Robert delivers what is probably the finest song in the entire score, “The life I never led,” in which she confesses to Deloris her own mounting sense of uneasiness about the life she has chosen and about all that she has given up as a result. It was always a deeply moving moment and that had a lot to do with this fine young singer.
In some ways, I came to an even deeper appreciation of the utter joy of this production a few weeks after the show closed, when the guild hosted its annual end-of-the-season banquet. The evening ended with everybody from the Sister Act cast who was present coming to the front and singing the final song of the show, “Spread the love around.” There were no longer any habits or 70’s-era leisure suits … nor any sets or props … nor fancy lighting. It was just a bunch of people singing their hearts out, and you could just see in their faces and hear in their voices the enormous joy of this reunion. As much as I loved the show as it played out on the RTG stage, this particular performance was in some ways even more exciting and moving. Maybe it was because a lot of the technical razzle dazzle of our production was stripped away and you were left with the people …. and that’s what this show is all about. And for that matter, that’s what community theater is all about. And in this painfully divisive era in which we find ourselves, it’s moments like these when you feel at least some hope that we might actually manage to find a way out of all of the anger and resentment and distrust and fear that is all around us. I thank the cast of Sister Act for embodying that hope that we can come together across deep cultural divides into a place of understanding and love.
