Sister Act - will it transfer to Broadway?

[broadwayfreak4]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 12:58am

So the reviews of Sister Act - The Musical in London are great, the word of mouth is great...I'm going to assume it's going to get a nomination for an Olivier for Best Musical. Any thoughts of it transferring to Broadway?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 1:00am

Yes. November of this year or March of next. I can't remember which.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:02am

I talk with one of the producers of this show all the time...they're aiming for fall of 2010 and always have been.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:53am

I cannot wait for this! I downloaded the cast album out of curiosity one day, and I love it so much. I'm obsessed with "The Life I Never Led" and its reprise.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 9:59am

I've only seen the video of the cast at the Royalty performance and I would for it to come to Broadway.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 10:58am

Mark my words - they don't have a Motown score. In England, they can get away with that. In America, it'll be much much harder. If they succeed, which I highly doubt, it will be a major-league uphill battle.

[KirbyCat]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:00am

I thought it got terrible reviews?

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:06am

I have to disagree...I think this show will find an audience pretty quickly.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:09am

Then you severely underestimate how important the Motown score was to the film's success. Will it find an audience? I don't doubt it. Will that audience lured by the film's success then taper off very quickly once they realize that this is not the Sister Act we know and love? Not even Whoopi's spirited speech on The View could fix that amount.

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:15am

It got generally good reviews in London and it just set a box office record at the Paladium - a very big house. Plus it's a crowd pleaser. The audience I saw it with loved it!

I saw it in its original incarnation in Pasadena and now again in London and it has improved a thousand percent. It has a great disco score from Alan Menken and a great leading lady in Patina Miller who would, presumably, come with it to Broadway. I think it will be a BIG hit.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:17am

The audience you saw it with were seeing it as a new musical, not an adaptation of an established film, however much the advertising pointed it out. The film wasn't as big in the UK as it was in the US, and therefore it didn't matter as much that strong liberties were taken.

I've heard some of the score, and you know what, it's really good. But that doesn't change the fact that people will walk into the theater in America expecting a certain thing and come out pissed that it wasn't that. It flopped in Pasadena and Atlanta for that reason, and if it transfers, I don't see it doing well in NY either.

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:21am

gvendo2005, are you kidding? English audiences know the movie as well as American audiences do. And there was a lot of early muttering about changing the songs etc. All of that vanished once people actually SAW the show. I don't get the impression you have seen it, am I right?

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:27am

I was intimately involved at an early stage of the project, pre-Menken, and was one of the people involved in attempting to license the Motown numbers for the show. The book at this point was pretty much the screenplay, with some moments from Paul Rudnick's initial draft (Deloris and the cop fall for each other again, have past history together, etc.) that later became key plot changes in the show also very much a part of the text.

The score would have involved all the Motown moments from Sister Act and a couple of numbers from Rudnick's first draft and Sister Act II (only the Motown, none of the new arrangements for the schoolkids) to pad out the evening.

Apparently Berry Gordy's got different plans for Motown on Broadway - a nebulous show that I don't see happening in the near future, working title of Ain't No Mountain High Enough (geez, what a cliche). I advised dropping the Sister Act project, but the team involved were more interested in trying to do it without the Motown. I said, "Didn't we run the numbers on this?" (And it's because of that market research we did that I keep reiterating my opinion, and I thought my point was proven when Pasadena and Atlanta met with tepid reception.)

I won't say I left in exasperation, that would be a lie, but it wasn't the project I signed on for anymore. I learned they'd hired Alan Menken, I thought he'd be a good choice, said good luck, and hit the road.

[mallardo]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:34am

Given your background with the project I would urge you to reserve judgment. As I said, the show that played Pasadena pales in comparison with what's on right now in London. I think you would be surprised at just how good it is.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:36am

I will reserve judgment, but needless to say, what I've seen so far in Pasadena and Atlanta and heard so far from the London cast isn't exactly getting me excited. I do think Patina Miller was an excellent choice compared to Dawnn Lewis, who was just terrible in the show in America.

[Dantes]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:40am

gvendo2005

What are you on?
Im from the UK and both Sister Act movies were huge here (the 1st one did massive business at the UK box office) the film is also on TV every couple of Months (it was on only a month or so ago on Channel 5 here, one of the major channels). Why just make an asumption that the film was not a hit here?

In fact it was so much of a hit in the UK that there is a show thats constantly on tour here called The Songs of Sister Act which is a touring musical tribute to the film, its always on the road and always sells very well (a lot of the audience turn up dressed as nuns)

The show did not got great reviews here in the UK it got average reviews. The critics were mixed. Shows like Legally Blonde which has just opened got much better reviews here than Sister Act did.

[mywonderwa11]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 11:48am

Well, look at the revival of Chicago. I can bet that many tourists who go see it here in New York are expecting something similar to the movie. Are the disappointed when they realize it is much different? Who is to say? But, that show continues to run.

[MichaelUK92]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 12:54pm

I personally didn't like Sister Act (Have seen it at the Palladium) It's more commercial and doesn't have a very exciting score (Billy Elliot Syndrome!).

[jamiekennywicked]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 1:12pm

Having seen the show 2 times what theatre could it take?

[DRSisLove]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 1:26pm

Saw it in London this past week. I still think the show needs a lot of work. There were some great moments, but at the same time, there were many occasions in which I was very bored.

[Mark_E]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 1:39pm

Saying Sister Act wasn't big in the UK is rubbish. It was and still is very very popular. When I told my friends it wasn't going to have the motown score it didn't worry them. They all just said well im sure it will be great anyway. Especially with Whoopi's endorsement.

I've seen the show 3 times. I think the best theatres on Broadway for it would be the Broadway, Marquis or Winter Garden. I think it will probably go into the Broadway.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:06pm

I was a big skeptic of the film, since it didn't have the songs from the film...but honestly, I really like it. A lot.

SPOILER
It will also appeal to the Christian crowd because (at least, this is the impression the cast album gives me) Deloris finds Jesus in the end and stays a nun.

That said, I may be completely wrong on that part.

[BroadwayBound115]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:28pm

If it plans to open in November of this year, and they want the Broadway, the Promises, Promises is going to have to be a limited run or just tank. I would love to see it go into The Broadway, but I don't want Promises, Promises to fail Oh well.

[Pgenre]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:56pm

This score is FANTASTIC! A HUGE hit! What frothy disco fun!

"Take Me To Heaven" and "Fabulous, Baby" are scorching, "Raise Your Voice" and the Act I Finale are unforgettable and "Sunday Morning Fever" is one of the catchiest songs I've ever heard. "Lady In the Long Black Dress" has some of the wittiest lyrics I've heard in ages, as well.

This show is FABULOUS, baby. I cannot WAIT!

I really hope it doesn't go head-to-head with CATCH ME IF YOU CAN, though, as that is also a very, very impressive score. It figures that both my favorite scores in years and years come to Bway in the same season.

P

[Scripps2]

Posted: 1/18/10 at 2:57pm

"It will also appeal to the Christian crowd because (at least, this is the impression the cast album gives me) Deloris finds Jesus in the end and stays a nun."

I wouldn't say she has an explicit conversion experience; she just becomes more attuned to where the sisters are coming from. Infact I found the whole Catholicism versus carnality issue to be very underwritten. It is certainly not evangelical - that wouldn't go down well in the UK where there is no Christian crowd.