Sister ACt RAISED THE ROOF FOR STARLIGHTS!

Many of us have seen the film and re-watched it many times on TV, but Sister Act was performed like never before last week.

It was clear from the start that nothing beats a live show and Andover Musical Company (AMTC) Starlights Youth Theatre certainly proved that was true.  Right from the start there was plenty of sass, with Amy Lloyd, taking on Whoppi Goldberg's role of Deloris Van Cartier, bursting onto stage with her confidence and big voice.

As a member of Hampshire Youth Choir the audience could definitely see why she was chosen for the show's leading role.  Taking on Take Me To  Heaven and Fabulous, Baby! was a tall order for the Testbourne Community School pupil, but one she rose to the challenge to complete in marvellous form.  As the performance went on there was a lot of love, hate, fear and narrow-mindedness, but amongst this there was a lot of laughs, particularly from the male supporting cast members.

Obviously his accent was meant to make the audience chuckle, but Sebastian Baynes as Pablo resurrected yet another European accent after he last appeared in Legally Blonde as Nikos Argitakos.

Also creating the laughter was Jonathan Harrison-Walsh who played Joey, one of the notorious gangster and  Deloris's boyfriend's Curtis's thugs, especially taking on Lady in the Long Black Dress.

As for those who made up much of the cast - the nuns - they were certainly full of enthusiasm and their voices combined were something else!  Throughout the show their confidence grew and their voices boomed as they took on many a number.  But for me the story that won my heart was that of Sister Mary Robert played by Aurelia Rungen, in her first lead role.  As the character is written she begun as shy and soft-spoken, but singing with Deloris lets her find her voice, and boy did she.

In act two Sister Mary Robert came out of her wallflower lifestyle to take on the big song of The Life I Never Led which showcased her wonderful voice like we hadn't heard before.

All in all it was definitely an uplifting show.

Sophie Day - Andover Advertiser