Letter to the Editor

Published: May 10, 2007

To the Editor:

I am puzzled. My mother and I attended the afternoon matinee of “Sister Act the Musical” on Feb. 25. This was the last day of a five-week run in Atlanta. The reviews in the Atlanta paper had been favorable. Since we both enjoyed the film version of “Sister Act,” we thought we were in for a treat. We weren’t.

The film “Sister Act” had a pervasive respect for the gift of faith and for the kind and generous role that sisters and priests play in the Catholic Church. Yes, some fun was poked at the naiveté of the sisters and the sheltered life they lived, but the film did not mock or ridicule the very reasons that these good people chose such a life. “Sister Act the Musical” did just that. The play implied that because they saw religious markings in food, they had faced severe tragedy or just weren’t very bright, the religious life was their only choice. How insulting! This play depicted the sisters in the play wearing glitzy outfits and talking about their sexual self-gratification. It wasn’t funny to those of us who have benefited from a Catholic education or just known many kind and loving sisters and priests. The Catholic Church should be very vocal about opposing this play. It defames the good religious men and women of faith. It made a total mockery of their faith and their intelligence. I kept waiting for the warm feeling that the movie had when Whoopie became a better person because of what she had learned from knowing the other sisters. The play never even came close.

Just so that you know, I am aware that much of the theater and musical theater can be edgy and take risks. I have seen and enjoyed many of these shows. I just think that this show presented itself to be similar to the movie and nothing could be farther from the truth.

The puzzling part was that I never heard from the Georgia Bulletin or a letter to the editor about how insulting this play was to the Catholic Church and our religious leaders. Afterward, I heard of several Catholic friends that walked out, but meanwhile the play continued without protests. Fellow Catholics, please! If you see a play or movie that ridicules our faith, speak out. Tell others. Write letters. Thank you.

Jeanne C. Kosmala, Duluth