Sister Act as presented by Tralee Musical Society

Public Adjudication: 

Sister Act as presented by Tralee Musical Society: 

Friday 12th April 2024. 

It was with an expectancy of a night of laughter and fun that I arrived in Tralee, on a visit to one of my favourite venues, Siamsa Tire, to see the feel-good, rockin’ gospel musical that is Sister Act, and I’m delighted to say that it delivered the goods. 

For this Tralee Musical Society production of the ever-popular Sister Act, Director, Oliver Hurley, offered up a clean and tidy, very comical, and very well-crafted piece of Musical Theatre. He gave good attention to the technical requirements of the show, and the visual presentation, but quite rightly focused on the strength of his characters and their comedic input to the story. Each nun had a separate and definite identity, and each thug his own style.

Staging of the show was very slick indeed, using a combination of projected scenery on good clean surfaces, and some lovely props and furniture. Everything was well-organized and very smooth transitions from scene to scene were carried out by a slick stage crew under the leadership of stage manager, Des Hurley. The projections were strong, even if a couple looked slightly out of focus, but they did create a great feeling of space in the church scenes.

The projected moving images also added another artistic dimension to some of the musical numbers. More importantly, the Director used the stage very well, giving us ever-changing pictures and groupings, and a strong sense of location for the various scenes. This was, of course, helped by a very good lighting plot which focused well on special areas, but also added beautiful effects and atmosphere to the big gospel numbers. Only once or twice did a sharp-edged follow spot cast a heavy shadow on side flats, temporarily washing out the projected image, but it was rare and didn’t really spoil what was an excellent technical show. 

Musical Director, Michael Young, produced great sounds from his accomplished band of musicians, feeling the rhythm of the gospel numbers, and toning down nicely for the more sentimental passages of music. He also achieved a good balance between stage and pit.

Those strong rhythms will have been appreciated by Choreographer, Justin Walsh, who offered up plenty of variety in his patterns for the choir numbers, rising from the early gentle and syncopated movement as the nuns learned their routines, to out and out, full-bodied, rockin’ displays when they found their true voices. Justin did good comedy work too, with the thug routines, and impressive footwork with Deloris and her backing singers and dancers. 

Not only did the chorus sell their movement with great energy, but they achieved a very fine visual display while also giving us an equally fine vocal display. Choral Director, Sorcha O’Connor, had them secure in their harmonies and disciplined in diction and clarity. I was very impressed that the amusing entrance of the nuns was delightfully, slightly off key, rather than horrendously tuneless. It was all the funnier for being not quite right, rather than savaged. A very good job. If the chorus were the backbone to the show, then the flesh and meat was supplied by a very good principal line. 

Clodagh Harrington in the role of Deloris Van Cartier, gave a remarkably fine and strong character performance. She was totally on top of the comedy of the role, and as the story progressed, her self-obsessiveness gave way to a tender and kind-hearted soul. That 

transformation was very well captured. Vocally, she was amazing, selling every number with strength and style. 

Tracy Hurley had a strong but caring nature as the Mother Superior, and excelled with her pious comedy, getting the most out of her frustration. She delivered “Her” absolutely beautifully. 

Tracy O’Keeffe began as an insecure Sister Mary Roberts, and correctly grew in stature as the show progressed. She made good sense of her “Life I’ve Never Led” with good vocal quality. 

Caroline Spillane got great fun out of the annoyingly joyous Sister Mary Patrick, like a nun on Duracell batteries. She sang well and understood the spontaneous, quirky, and enthusiastic nature of her comedy. 

Like the nun that nobody wanted as a teacher at school, Brona Ringland gave a good level of grumpy authoritarianism to the role of Sister Mary Lazarus, scary from the outset, then transforming into a funky, free spirit as the show progressed. Very nicely played. 

John Drummey worked the transition from pragmatic priest to Pop-rock Pulpit Papa very successfully as Monsignor O’Hara, combining sincere religiosity with a delightful comedic appreciation of changing times. Very good sense of fun. 

Mike Lynch was a very credible and likeable Eddie Souther, the awkward but ultimately heroic cop, with a love for Deloris. Played with a fine sense of comedy at the start, he found his swagger by the end of the show, giving a strong vocal performance of “I Could Be That Guy” along the way. 

Marcus Nolan was a cold-hearted crime boss and lover as Curtis, tuneful and comically menacing in “When I Find My Baby,” and a natural leader of a band of incompetent thugs. Well played. 

Jerry Lynch Jnr made a good job of being the dork nephew of the boss, TJ, while Conor O’Sullivan was delightfully un-cool as Joey, and Padraig Harrington was sleazy and incomprehensible as a very funny Pablo. Together they were a most amusing comedy trio and made the most of their musical numbers. 

Ruth Mulligan and Roisin Hussey gave good vocal and comedic support to Deloris, as Tina and Michelle. 

There were good performances too from Anne Marie Early as Mary of Tours, and Mary Higgins as Mary Theresa. 

The wardrobe for this show is fairly predictable, yet I’ve seen so many variations on the ‘glitz’ nuns theme. In this case, the emphasis was on class and style, with beautiful sets of habits, especially the finale set. The gang of thugs were tastelessly brilliant in their appropriate styles, perfectly capturing the era. Props were good too, and where required wigs/hairpieces were very good and well worn. Make-up for the nuns was nicely understated while Deloris, and her backing singers, were allowed more glam and colour. The whole show was aesthetically pleasing. 

Apart from a nervous start and a couple of late cues, radio mics were well-used, and the sound was generally good and well-balanced, adding to the overall quality of a very well rehearsed, very well-presented, and thoroughly enjoyable production of this very entertaining show. Thank you to everyone involved, not just for this year’s show, but for the many highly enjoyable visits I have made to Siamsa Tire, during my tenure as adjudicator.

Peter Kennedy

Gilbert Adjudicator 23/24

Photo Credit: Jim Sheehy