Arts & Entertainment
Sister Act Lights Up William Gill Stage
The duo sang pieces from various time periods to an audience which danced along.
The Sister Act's audience was big on enthusiasm and got involved in the performance at the new in New Hyde Park on Sunday.
Siblings originally from The Bronx, Andrea Giammalvo and Celeste Santini took
their very receptive audience on what Giammalvo described as,"...a trip about how
ladies paved the way over the years in music."
From Billie Holiday to Madonna and many in between, the ladies hit the
notes on every measure. Dressing in genuine World War II WACS uniforms, the
Sisters looked and sounded as lovely as The Andrew Sisters and the two of them
covered all three parts vocally.
With rock music history as part of their heritage, the sisters continued to reach the audience with versions of tunes from over the last 70 years. Audience members danced and sang along with the vocal abilities of each sister, individually and in harmony.
The ladies delivered period tunes in appropriate period wear and added sarcasm
along the way. They segued from The Ronettes into The Pointer Sisters and "Sea of Emotion", which became "Take a Chance on Me" by Olivia Newton John which got them into "Dancing Queen" before taking us to Broadway and "Mamma Mia" with the small audience dancing in-line along the front of the theater.
"I'm having fun as I hot flash up here," Giammalvo said during one performance.
The ladies paused only briefly to speak of growing up in Da Bronx. They sang into bananas growing up and had to keep their desire and love of music restrained, as children of a NY City policeman who did not appreciate some of the performers the ladies admired during their teenage years. Though their mother supported them all along.
Josephine Romano, the sisters' mother, exclaimed, "I feel like Milton Berle's mother!"
Audience members enjoyed the sometimes rowdy, always raucous experience.
Find out what's happening in New Hyde Parkfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"It was great," said Norman Aranow of New Hyde Park. "The sisters were sensational. It was a fantastic show."
Sister Act has performed in New Hyde Park previously and as Lisa Miranda,
Village cultural commissioner, said they will perform again.
"We love having them," Miranda said.
She and Donald Barbieri, Village trustee, also spoke about the desire of New Hyde Park to utilize the new William Gill Jr. theater for the benefit of residents.
