ByJohn Nathan, John Nathan
The plotting is a bit dodgy — the tart-with-a-heart heroine, Delores, escapes the clutches of her gangster ex with no more than a leap and a bound. But this stage version of the Whoopi Goldberg movie (this time Goldberg produces) is so visually, lyrically and — thanks to Alan Menken’s knowing ’70s disco score — melodically witty, that forgiving the predictable turns is easy.
American Patina Miller as the nightclub singer turned nun-on-the-run must be the most talented singing performer in London. The chorus line of low-kicking nuns is the most enjoyable since Mel Brooks’s high-kicking Nazi stormtroopers. With the help of Anthony Van Laast’s choreography, Peter Schneider’s production doles out ecstatic moment after ecstatic moment. Enjoy.