Newcity Stage

Theater, Dance, Comedy and Performance in Chicago

Drury Lane’s “Sister Act” Brings the Whoopi Goldberg-Led 1992 Movie to the Stage Chicago theater mainstay E. Faye Butler has directed a joyous musical that’ll keep you smiling all the way back home.

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by Christine Trevino
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Two women dressed as nuns sit in a wooden confessional booth with red curtains, one looking serious and the other smiling and gesturing. Shadows of crosses are visible on the backdrop. Stage lighting highlights their faces.

Drury Lane Theatre’s “Sister Act,” with Michelle Duffy and Rae Davenport/Photo: Justin Barbin

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Drury Lane Theatre kicks off the holiday season with “Sister Act,” a stage version of the Whoopi Goldberg-led 1992 movie comedy of the same name.

Songstress Deloris Van Cartier (Rae Davenport) finds herself on the run after witnessing her trigger-happy paramour, Curtis (Kelvin Roston, Jr.), murder someone outside a Philadelphia nightclub. She flees to the police station, where officer Eddie Souther (Lawrence Flowers) comes up with the idea to hide her at a struggling convent with money problems and a no-nonsense Mother Superior (Michelle Duffy). Worlds collide.

Davenport is a dynamic Deloris who is more than capable of leading a show, but the storyline would be better served if she played more of a diva early on. On opening night, Mother Superior’s immediate dislike of Deloris didn’t seem justified. The book is humorous, but an even starker juxtaposition between Deloris and Mother Superior would help fill in the blanks and amp up the comedy.

A woman in a sparkly magenta dress sits on a sofa smiling at a man in a police uniform who stands in front of her, both engaged in conversation on a dimly lit stage.

Drury Lane Theatre’s “Sister Act,” with Rae Davenport and Lawrence Flowers/Photo: Justin Barbin

The show catches fire after the introduction of the Queen of Angels nuns and remains bright until the end. It’s a great ensemble, and each nun gets her moment in the spotlight. Special mention to Amanda Walker’s sweet postulant Mary Robert, Rachel Carreras as bright-eyed and eager Sister Mary Patrick, and Meg Thalken as the delightfully acerbic Sister Mary Lazarus.

Alan Menken’s music transports the audience right back to 1977, a perfect mix of grooves, soul and disco. Voices are lovely, and a standout performance by Flowers of “I Could Be That Guy” will take every theatergoer to church. Kenny Ingram’s choreography turns even the most bumbling of criminal lackeys (Trey DeLuna, Jonah Winston and Richaun Stewart) into smooth, sure-footed gangsters and further enlivens the show.

Chicago theater mainstay E. Faye Butler has directed a joyous “Sister Act” that’ll keep you smiling all the way back home.

“Sister Act” runs through January 11, 2026, at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace. Tickets are $75-$150, available at drurylanetheatre.com or by calling (630)530-0111.