Broadway Play: “Sister Act”

                 On Friday, March 2, 2012, Honors College students saw the 8:00pm performance of “Sister Act,” the divine musical
comedy held at the  Broadway Theater in Times Square. This Tony-nominated musical is based on the infamously successful
1992 film with the same title,  starring Whoopi Goldberg.

                  In general, the musical followed the film’s plot religiously. Deloris Van Cartier is an aspiring singer who witnesses her
mobster boyfriend, Curtis Jackson, commit a murder. As a result, the police place her in the witness protection program in a
financially struggling Roman Catholic church. There, Deloris is forced to disguise herself as a nun and takes on the persona of
Sister Mary Clarence. 

                  At first, Deloris rebels against the strict Roman Catholic rules followed by the nuns, but, in time, she helps her
fellow sisters turn their awful, tone-deaf choir into a popular, sweet-sounding church sensation. The Honors College
students in attendance were blessed with orchestra seats, less than ten rows from the stage! We were able to see the
cast’s beautiful, sparkling costumes up close, which were especially spectacular in the final musical number called
“Spread Your Love Around.”  During this scene, the Company performers wear habits, a staple article of nuns’ clothing,
reportedly adorned with 7,000 Swarovski crystals! Many of the show’s songs were laugh-out-loud funny to the point where
I saw a few cast members giggling at their own lines. For example, Curtis sings an ironically jolly tune discussing how he
plans to  murder Deloris once he finds her, during his solo  performance “When I Find My Baby.”  Later on in the second
act, Curtis’s mobster friends share their own techniques of how to flirt with nuns in their group song, “Lady in the Long
Black Dress.”

                  So, for heaven’s sake, if you have never seen a Broadway musical, take the time to experience it with  the
Honors College! I recommend that you  take part in this event next spring. In the meantime, enjoy a night in New York
City and see “Sister Act” now!