IN PHOTOS: Uplands College produces first-class musical
It was a spectacular production of Sister Act put on by Uplands College between May 13 and 15. The cast and the entire team involved in the show delivered a first-class performance.
Uplands College’s stunning production of Sister Act between May 13 and May 15 showed the young cast’s spectacular talents, with them mastering the wit and humour, grand musical numbers and overall emotion in their rendition.
With all the shows sold out, resulting in a full house on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, May 13 to 15, the cast and the entire team involved in the production delivered an excellently executed musical. From the gorgeous set pieces to the young actors and actresses’ remarkable skill in bringing this heart-warming story to life, the audience members sat completely captivated by the performances.
The production’s director, the head of culture at Uplands, Emma Storm, said work on the production began in July last year. Various staff members and learners on the team helped with the music, the building of the sets, the choreography, backstage and costumes.
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Storm said the college’s production follows a similar storyline to the 1992 film starring Whoopi Goldberg, as well as the theatre production written for Broadway. She said the music in Uplands’ production and the Broadway show is different from the film.
It follows the story of a woman, Deloris van Cartier (played by both Lee-Ann Kholwane and Shanique Dube), a struggling singer with dreams of becoming a star. She unwittingly witnesses a murder at the hands of her boyfriend, Curtis Jackson (played by Max Östlind), and upon informing the police of this crime, she must hide from him and his thugs, seeking refuge as a nun at a convent.
There she becomes Sister Mary Clarence, with only Mother Superior (Erin Durek), police officer Eddie Souther (Eric Cardoso) and Monsignor O’Hara (Daniel Waring) knowing her true identity.
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Deloris is then tasked with transforming the initially unpolished choir of nuns into a lively, perfectly in-tune ensemble, drawing larger crowds to the convent’s Sunday church services. Thus Deloris embarks on a journey of self-discovery, forming formidable friendships in unlikely places along the way.
“The feedback on the production was absolutely amazing, and I was inundated with emails and WhatsApp messages of congratulations and people saying how much they loved the show,” said Storm. “We had people coming up after the shows who were really complimentary about the professionalism and the talent.”
The cast was comprised of grade nine to 12 learners. “I think the actors and actresses were phenomenal. We cast it quite well. I feel there was a good balance between the singing, acting and choreography, and the leads performed excellently. These are high school children, and they handled it brilliantly.”
She said all in all, the production was a huge success.
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