Photo Credit: George Katsekes Jr.
The 1970s live again onstage in Elm Grove as Sunset Playhouse presents Sister Act. Ashley Levells has a fairly dazzling presence in the role of an aspiring pop diva who walks in on her boyfriend as he commits murder. Levells has the right dramatic mix of confidence and vulnerability as an aggressively flamboyant personality who is forced to lay low as a nun in a Philadelphia convent long enough to be able to testify against her former boyfriend.
Levells’ charm is pitted against that of Sharon Sprague as the Mother Superior forced to deal with an iconoclastic outsider shaking things up in the convent. Sprague’s grasp of droll brevity of wit plays well against Levells’ flashiness in a solidly satisfying pairing of personalities. The rest of the story is rounded out with a refreshingly diverse supporting cast. Director Diana Alioto pieces together an enjoyable couple of hours of musical theater tucked away in Elm Grove in a show with admirable heart.
The ’70s feel very appealing in a show which features pop tunes that sound like they should have actually charted sometime in the last few years before the ’80s. Costume designer Joanne Cunningham and scenic designer Nick Korneski bring an uncluttered visual representation of the era to the stage. It’s a very clean-looking 1978 that plays host to a heartwarming story about the importance of acceptance in a world that so desperately needs much more of it.
Through Nov. 5 at Furlan Auditorium, 800 Elm Grove Road. For tickets, call 262-782-4430 or visit sunsetplayhouse.com.
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