Take me to heaven, 
Take me to kingdom come. 
I’ll take any vow.

Sister Act, a show close to my heart after portraying a former gangster in it alongside my son and fiancée, who played a nun. But this was Sister Act Jr, at a length of 75 minutes, an hour less than the version I’m used to. If I’m honest, the loss of time did not matter as all the relevant scenes were there and only a couple of numbers dropped, including the boring When I Find My Baby, which was a blessing (Forgive the pun).

This was my first time watching West Bromwich Operatic Society Youth Theatre and I’m delighted to have found another gem of a company. I am a big advocate of youth in theatre, and it often goes overlooked with ignorance that it may be like school productions in an assembly hall. Not the case and I shall continue to spread the word so these wonderful groups go beyond the expected audiences of family and friends.

Set to the music of Alan Menken, Sister Act is the story of Deloris, a singer who witnesses a murder at the hands of gangster boyfriend, Curtis and goes into hiding in a convent. There, she not only teaches the nuns to sing, but also learns valuable lessons about herself. In the lead as Dolores was Isabella Hale who shone throughout with all the sass the role requires and delivered numbers such as Take Me to Heaven and Sister Act in fine fashion. A great all-round performance.

Also strong as Mother Superior was Grace Paskin, giving us ironic humour as the reluctant saviour and excelling during Here Within These Walls. Then we had Amelia Moors playing the novice nun, Mary Robert who totally nailed The Life I Never Led. In the role of Officer Eddie Souther was Jake Dale, and going on the amount of applause coming from nearby, I think I was seated near a close family member who would have been rightly proud during I Could Be That Guy.

Due to the show being shorter (as mentioned) from the adult version, the consequence was that you had more percentage of comic relief from Monsignor O’Hara and Jack Mullen-Hughes rose to the task perfectly. Sadly, for me, though, because this was a junior version, a lot of the gangster scenes were diluted or cut, meaning you had less Curtis (Lucas Nijhof-Clarke), Joey (Tristan Marwa), TJ (Oscar Wetherall), Pablo (Freddie Wetherall) and Ernie (Nathan Thevar-Ward). All played their parts superbly, though, and we got a cheeky stripped-back Lady in the Long Black Dress (Oh, the memories).

And we had an array of nuns including Beth Higgitt (Mary Patrick), Emily Hemingbrough (Mary Lazarus), Isabelle Butt (Mary Martin of Tours), Lola Wooldridge (Mary Celeste), Eliza Rose Flavell (Mary Irene), Honor Whitehouse (Mary Stephen) and Ayda Whitehouse (Mary Theresa). Each performed to a high standard, and I enjoyed Bless Our Show, Sunday Morning Fever, Raise Your Voice and Good to be a Nun amongst others. Supporting, all the rest of the cast must have doubled up as nuns at some point, and these included dancers, Athena Paskin (Michelle), Imogen Jeffs (Tina), Eva-Grace Mahay (Elle) and Janie Patel (Nina). Excellent movement and singing in the opening number.

The rest of the ensemble included Cameron Simms (Cop) and Jordan O’Brien (Newscaster). Then, Harry Hemingbrough (Angry Street Person) was among the Street People who were Fabulous Baby in that number. These were Lola Bennett, Amara Dyer, Holly Edwards, Isobelle Evans, Elsie Hogan, Millie Jones, Emily McNally, Ena Moreton, Anaya Patel, Macy Pickett, Kiran Thevar-Ward and Emily Wilson. I hope I have not missed anyone out or got a name wrong; tell me if I have. There are a lot to list and much cross-referencing, but all deserve a mention. What was clear throughout was the exceptional standards, and even the youngest looking cast members were all precise in dance and reaction.

At the helm of Sister Act Jr was Emma Wetherall in directing with Claire Flavell doing Choreographer and Dan Hardy overseeing musical direction. This was a good afternoon out and I look forward to WBOS Youth’s next production of Annie later this year.

Cheers.

Antony N Britt

*Photos taken from social media.