"Sister Act" by Beeston Musical Theatre Group.

Duchess Theatre, Long Eaton.

It's 1977, Disco Diva Deloris Van Cartier is a cabaret/lounge singer, which is run by her mobster boyfriend, Curtis. Deloris witnesses her mobster boyfriend commit a murder, and reports it to the police.

Deloris just happens to recognise the policeman as an old college friend, who just happens to have had a crush on her, called Eddie, or “sweaty” Eddie as she remembers him. He has an idea to hide Deloris in a convent for her safety under the witness protection act.

At first, obviously she does not fit in with the nuns but when she discovers that music is something that she has in common with the nuns, she turns the convent around with the power of disco and soul music and discovers the importance of friendship along the way.

But just when everything is bobbing along nicely, the fame Deloris wants soon becomes her downfall and puts herself, as well as the nuns, in grave danger!

Deloris is played by Monique Henry, who I've seen play Deloris in the past, so I knew that I was in for a fabulous performance. Monique has an incredible voice and is well suited to these big disco and gospel songs in the soundtrack. Her energy and fizz bubbled with every move. Her dancing was exciting and wild in places which was right for Deloris and her enthusiasm was catchy as hell in this heavenly performance.

Evie May Evans is Tina and Maisie Cutts is Michelle, Deloris' backing vocalists when she tries out in Curtis' club.

Paul Mills plays Curtis, the gangster bad boy and Deloris' boyfriend. The threat was more of a panto baddie threat, which was recognised by some of the audience when they booed and hissed at him. "When I Find My Baby" has such a good build up, and Paul makes a deliciously threatening meal of the song.

Lu Anthony plays "Sweaty" Eddie Souther. Every character seems to have a "highlight" in "Sister Act" and for me it's "I Could Be That Guy" with its' flashback effect. I saw something new from Lu as she sang in a lower tone than I'd heard from Lu previously, which was a nice contrast from her usual singing range. There's always something new to discover about Lu in her performances of late. And I love her final costume change!

Sandy C Lane plays Mother Superior. This role is made for someone with an incredible voice, and Sandy certainly fits that job description. That troubled, confused private discussion she has with the Big Man upstairs, and I'm not talking about either of the two Dave's in charge of sound or light, is lovely, as is the thawing of the ice with Mother Superior and Deloris. Another classy performance from Sandy.

Mina Holtom is Sister Mary Lazarus, as well as being responsible for sourcing and managing these wonderful costumes we see on stage. Only Mina could play this role and deliver the rap with the amount of swag experienced tonight. Lovely comic performance.

Jane Cottee as Sister Mary Theresa, one of the oldest nuns in the convent. Now, that really must have taken some method acting from Jane, as she is far too young to play the role. Nevertheless, she pulled it out of the bag, surely a credit to Jane's acting skills.

Charlotte Howarth is Sister Mary Patrick, and this is not the first time that Charlotte has performed in "Sister Act", as I can remember her from Nottingham University's Musicality's production of the same musical a few years ago.

Emily Owen is Sister Mary Robert, the shy nun who is brought out of her shell by Deloris' influence. This is a real journey character, brought to fruition with a gorgeous rendition of "The Life I Never Had", which gave me tingles, and her standing up to Mother Superior and Curtis.

Daisy Forster as Sister Mary Martin-of-Tour, the nun who is more than one psalm short of an hymn book. A lovely zany, off the wall character, played with great fun by Daisy.

Matthew Charlton is TJ, Curtis' nephew. The character is a simpleton, quite childlike, but is a lovely comedic, and gentle character, along with the other two of Curtis' henchmen, Pablo and Joey, they provide much of the comedy.

Cibele Ponces Alvarenga switches everything up by playing Pablo, normally a role played by a male actor, but what a refreshing change to see this switch, and also to see Cibele play a slightly nastier character.

Gareth Morris is Joey, who thinks he has a way with any woman, even a nun! This trio works so well because each of the three characters are so different from each other, and if it hadn't had been for the fact that they worked for Curtis, these three characters would never have crossed paths. Thank Curtis they did though!

One of my favourite sections in the musical is when TJ, Pablo and Joey perform the wonderfully sleazy "Lady In The Long Black Dress" which just drips of 1970's end of the night disco smooch, but listen to the clever and funny lyrics.

Chris Bryan is Ernie, who gets to have a long "nap" shortly after the start of the show, but Chris returns later on the other side of the tracks, so to speak.

William Howarth is Monsignor O'Hara. Almost every performance of this character I've seen in the past seems to have an Irish accent. William didn't bother - not sure how good his accents are, but using a more natural accent worked really well, especially when hyping up the congregation.

The divine ensemble is made up from Rebecca Noall, Christine Walton, David Artiss, Andy Bulmer, Ruth Maddison, Victoria Bryan, Philippa Buchanan, Sarah Dunbavand, Claire Farrand-Preston, Maria Lawrence, Jaye Bonser, Charlotte Drewett, Hannah Gorton, Naomi Batley, Amelia Delbridge, Alice Cammell and Esther White.

Directed by John Hand, just everything John put his hand to in this show was fabulous baby. He made sure that everyone's chuckle muscles were well and truly worked via his wonderful cast.

The Dance Captain is Alice Cammell and the whole show is choreographed by Jodie Lakin. Sections like "Raise Your Voice", "Sunday Morning Fever" and "Take Me To Heaven" highlighted the big ensemble choreographed scenes, while "I Could Be That Guy" also showcased the more intricate and timed choreography.

Chris Toon is the Musical Director, and what a heavenly joy it must be for him to work on this soundtrack. "Sunday Morning Fever", "Fabulous Baby", "Raise Your Voice", "Take Me To Heaven", "Lady In The Long Black Dress", "The Life I Never Led", "When I Find My Baby", the title song and the sublime "Here Within These Walls" will all be whirling around your head for days after seeing the show. Chris religiously provides his usual high standards in his role as Musical Director.

The costumes, hired from Charades Theatrical Costume Hire - St Helens were quite literally fabulous, with the costumes on show in the finale making the stage sparkle and shine - hang on, isn't that from another musical? I digress, an exploded glitter ball would not have created as much glitter and sequins as on the combined costume count at the end.

Only one minor lighting issue when Mother Superior was not lit during a part of her song "I Haven't Got A Prayer", but a great job was done to illuminate, not only the stage but the whole auditorium in an explosion of colour, all thanks to Dave Martin.

Likewise with the sound production, a couple of minor missed cues could not deflate my adoration for this show, courtesy of Dave Dallard.

The set design, by John Hand, was clever as the split design of the police office, also doubled as Eddie's flat, the bar across from the convent among other settings. The external brick work pattern gave a back street effect for other parts of the play, plus the internal walls of the convent. A gorgeous stained glass window effect at the rear of the stage also created that holy image.

The set was manoeuvred well by the stage crew under the stage management by Katie Bird.

It doesn't matter how many times you see a production, there's always something new to spot, and the actors bring their own personality to their characters, making every theatre companies' show slightly different. This show is just as funny as the first time I laid eyes and ears on it, many years ago, and long may this celestial classic create chuckles.

An extremely well deserved standing ovation on opening night, and something that will probably occur every blessed night.

"Sister Act" is raising the roof at The Duchess Theatre in Long Eaton until Saturday 28 October, and I am confident that everyone who sees this divine musical will be raising their voices in appreciation of this excellent production.