Take Me To Heaven...

Last time I went to see a West End show I was 13. The show was Mamma Mia. And it wasn't even in the West End, it was at The Point (remember The Point) in Dublin. I had no interest going, but by for the finale, me, and my entire family, were dancing in the aisles (you could tell we hadn't been let out much). Anyways since then I've always wanted to see more West End shows, and last night, 9 years later, I finally got to see a show on the West End.

Sister Act: The Musical
How lovely is the poster by the way? It really captures the humour and excitement of the show...

Obviously the big draw of the night, and honestly the only reason that Ciara and I got tickets, was because of the one and only Whoopi Goldberg. Yes the original Delores Van Cartier was getting back in the habit, as the poster puts it... And she was WONDERFUL. She was no longer Delores, but a very grown up Mother Superior. But she wasn't Maggie Smith's Mother S, but her own truly original version. Mother Superior, with a little sass...

Oh, did I tell you we were in the front row? Seats A1 & A2 baby! When I got the tickets they were restricted view, so I assumed we'd have a big wall or pillar in our face, but no, we were literally about 6 foot from the stage and behind the orchestra. It was wonderful...

This is the only picture I have of the stage. At the start of the performance we were warned (by a recording from Miss Goldberg herself) that the use of cameras was strictly forbidden as it distracts the actors, and I couldn't agree more... They are on stage to entertain us and do their job, and I can only assume that flashes going off every two seconds would be very frustrating.

As for the sets and stage design all I can say is just WOW. It was fucking incredible! It was a church, then a nightclub, then a bedroom, bam bam bam they keep changing and each was just as wonderful as the previous. The set designer, Klara Zieglerova, is one talented woman.

These posters were amazing also, and they were designed 70 years ago, in 1939! Can you imagine? They are so on trend right now, funny how trends go round & round... Anyways we had to get a nerdy photo with them.

One of the biggest surprises of the night for me was the music. When I found out that they used none of the original songs from the film (I Will Follow Him, Hail Mary, Whats Up?) I was pretty disappointed. But there was really no need. Song after song, was just hit after hit, so joyous, so emotional (one of the numbers nearly had me in tears) and just so Sister Act-ish, if I can make up a word, fun and colourful...

Take me to Heaven is the song that has been stuck in my head all night, so that's the one I thought would go well with this post. Also I really should have mentioned Patina Miller by now! She plays Delores and is just Fabulous, Baby! Her acting, her voice, I mean her VOICE, her comedic timing, all perfection. She'll be a star.

All I can say is if you are in London, just please go and get yourself a ticket...

DRN