Sister Act announces its lead
Pop star Alexandra Burke is set to star as Deloris Van Cartier in the national tour of Sister Act, which will open at the Leicester Curve in the summer. Having already performed in the musical The Bodyguard, the X Factor star is well practised in theatre and will be a welcome addition to the cast of the touring production. Burke will play the lead of Van Cartier, an iconic role made so in the hit film of the same name.
The popular film starred Whoopi Goldberg as Van Cartier, and also showed off Maggie Smith as part of the talented Sister Act cast. Sister Act tells the story of Van Cartier, a disco diva whose life is turned upside down when she witnesses a murder and must be hidden in a convent under protective custody, which Smith heads. The show will feature original music by the eight time Oscar and Tony Award winner Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater, a book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner, and additional book material by Douglas Carter Beane.
The production will be directed and choreographed by Strictly Come Dancing judge Craig Revel Horwood, with musical supervision and arrangements by Tony Award winner Sarah Travis. The show looks set to be an exhilarating and hugely original production. Revel Horwood has previously collaborated with Leicester Curve's artistic director on the production of Annie staged there, and as a result the musical will delights its audiences along the way on its tour.
Further tour dates and casting are yet to be announced, however locations confirmed include the Curve, Leicester; Leeds Grand Theatre; Manchester Palace; Sunderland Empire; Birmingham Alexandra Theatre; Bristol Hippodrome; Milton Keynes; Glasgow King's Theatre; Liverpool Empire; High Wycombe Swan; Ipswich Regent Theatre; Belfast Grand Opera House; Dublin Bord Gais; Southend Cliffs Pavilion; Malvern Theatre and the Cambridge Corn Exchange.