Sister Act’s Beverley Knight on standing ‘shoulder to shoulder with my LGBTQ family’
Exclusive: "I'm a ride or die kind of girl" says Knight of her allyship, as she and her co-star, Gavin and Stacey's, Ruth Jones, tell Attitude why Sister Act is the perfect show for now
By Simon Button
As the musical Sister Act makes its way back to the West End, star Beverley Knight has reiterated her support for the LGBTQ community.
Speaking exclusively to Attitude at a launch party at Heaven, the actress and singer says: “My relationship with the community is extremely tight and it always has been. I’m a ride or die kind of girl. I will absolutely stand shoulder to shoulder with all my LGBTQ family.”
Describing the show as “camp as tits”, Knight is returning to the role of lounge singer Deloris Van Cartier, who is forced to hide out in a convent under the guise of Sister Mary Clarence after witnessing a murder.
“It has an actual physiological effect on people who see it” – Ruth Jones on Sister Act
The Mother Superior who finds her presence a major annoyance is this time played by Gavin & Stacey star Ruth Jones, who says of the musical: “It’s so uplifting and I think everybody needs a little injection of that right now. It’s pure escapism. The music is fantastic and I think it just has an actual physiological effect on people who come to see it.”
Speaking after the cast performed a selection of songs from the show, Jones said: “It sounds very dramatic but by the end of the show it’s like a communion between the audience and everyone who’s on stage. With the times as they are now, I’ve stopped looking at the news and I know a lot of people feel the same. This is the perfect antidote. It’s two and a half hours of pure joy.”
Beverley (who plays Deloris until 18 June, after which Alexandra Burke takes over) agrees, adding that there’s a serious message behind all the fun and frivolity. “It’s about the connection between humans, one to another, and also how these two people from such different worlds can find that commonality between each other.” Ruth nods her head. “It’s about understanding and it’s about tolerance because they’re both changed for the better and they find compromise. And let’s be honest, we could all do with some compromise right now, couldn’t we?”
Alongside her music career, Knight has done lots of musical theatre, with credits including The Bodyguard, Cats, The Drifters Girl and Sylvia (for which she won an Olivier Award). For Jones, though, Sister Act marks her West End debut, following in the footsteps of Jennifer Saunders.
“Jennifer has admitted that she’s better known obviously for her absolute comedy brilliance on TV,” Ruth says of why she’s risen to the new challenge. “But she was fantastic in the show and it made me think ‘She’s not known as a musical theatre performer and I’m certainly not a musical theatre performer’ and that gave me the confidence to give it a go. So it’s my first-ever musical, at age 57. I did them in school, but that was a long, long time ago.”
Having last month eased herself into it with a run at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin, Jones is a big fan of her co-star, gushing: “Her voice is a gift from God. It really is absolutely extraordinary.” Knight laughs. “Stop it! But Ruth is so good in the show and I’m learning a lot from her about comic timing. She’s brilliant.”
Sister Act is at the Dominion Theatre, London, from 15 March to 31 August. Get tickets here.