Directing Sister Act

Phil Harrison discusses directing Sister Act and why its a must-see show!

I attended the first London preview of Sister Act at the Palladium on 7th May 2009 - my birthday! I fell in love with it immediately. I was even sat behind Alan Menken, the composer for the show! I knew I had to go back later in the run to see Whoopi play Mother Superior. I have seen Patinia Miller, Alexandra Burke and the incandescent Cynthia Erivo play the title role professionally. So it is definitely a show I know very well and it close to my heart!

This is the first show where me and my better half are on the production team together. Myself as Director and Jason as Choreographer. We are Fantastically supported by Sarah Day’s role as MD. We all love the film, and although it's a great movie soundtrack, Alan Menken has written a fantastic disco score to the musical.

I tend to direct plays more than musicals however, I have been doing musicals for 20 years across the North West. It is a completely different ball game and a nice change of challenge. The production is stripped back and minimalist. I am trying to use as few blackouts as possible and trying to integrate scenes to help them flow better. We've only had 10 weeks to put the full show on – which is difficult. Over the summer period it is even harder! However everyone is working their habits off and the show is shaping up brilliantly.

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