Last Tuesday was a mid-week date night for me and Mer. For Christmas, Mer had gotten me tickets to a production of the musical Sister Act when it came to Cleveland, and Tuesday was finally the night. Mer was spiteful of the weather and wore one of her late spring dresses so she could feel dressed up without winter boots and gloves and bulky coat and so on. We ate at home, and then drove up to Cleveland Playhouse.

The play is based on the same story as the movie with Whoopi Goldberg from the 1990s. The main character is a nightclub singer who sees a murder, goes to the police, and then is hidden in a convent, where she spruces up the church choir. It has been years since I have seen the movie, but I feel as though the musical added more musical numbers and made the play a bit more slapstick, with good results. Even though I had gone into the play with some skepticism (since it was derivative of a movie, I was afraid it would be a lamer adaptation), I was won over pretty quickly. The music was fun, the jokes were funny and quite clever at times, and the humor of the plot was slapstick in places, and it was a grand effect. It had been a long time since Mer and I had gone to a “fluff” musical where we could just enjoy being entertained. While I love “deep” theater, it was fun to go to a goofy play.

The talent was top-notch, which is not surprising for a traveling Broadway company. All the singers were fantastic, and the dance numbers worked well. The pit orchestra was good, and the sets were fabulous. It’s pretty much what you would expect from a professional troupe. It was a fun evening, well worth going to, even on a school night.