Thomas Jørstad Pettersen will be seen in the blockbuster Sister Act

Tickets for Sister Act have been snapped up in recent weeks and this week extra performances were launched. It turns out that there are many people who have a relationship with the 90's movie that bears the same name as the show. Like so many others, it started with the movie for Thomas.

- "The movie Sister Act came out when I was seven years old and I' ve seen it, but to be brutally honest it didn't leave a very lasting impression," laughs Thomas.

But when I saw the performance in Oslo a couple of weeks ago, it had a different sound. It was a real feel-good theater and an incredible atmosphere in the hall!

Photo: Kristin Aafløy Opdan

Summer show

Thomas is originally from Grimstad and has held summer shows in Lillesand for a number of years. He spends his days as both a father of young children and a professional actor in Oslo, most recently in the children's theater show Operasjon Teater with Riksteateret, quite far from the character in Sister Act, gang member Joey.

- I think Joey and the rest of the gang work well as a comic alibi for the creepy gang leader Curtis. As you know, the heroine goes into hiding from Curtis, which is a serious matter in itself, but Joey and the gang lighten the mood with humor, dancing and singing. "In that sense, we're pretty much the same, apart from all the criminal stuff they do of course," smiles Thomas.

With an education and experience in musical theater, it seems that one of next year's major productions in Kilden is right in the spotlight for Thomas.

- It's really fun to do a big musical that engages the audience and has broad appeal. In Oslo, the audience danced and sang along, and I hope and believe that we can do the same in Kilden .

Kilden and Thomas

Kilden and Thomas have a long history together, the first meeting took place back in 2015.

- I've been to Kilden with The Wizard of Oz, Kunst and Plutselig Pervo. The latter was my debut on a professional stage. It's a monologue performance about a person who is addicted to pornography that opens with the main character sitting alone on stage and masturbating. When I first read the script I said out loud: "No, you know what...."

However, Thomas accepted the role anyway, despite skepticism over a daring script.

- It was a really fun performance. So it's better that someone in the audience raised their eyebrows.

It wasn't just the audience that raised their eyebrows; Daniel Stamnes, head of Kilden Kultur and responsible for Sister Act, also remembers the monologue well.

- "I remember the play 'Suddenly a Pervert' well, Thomas was brilliant! I think Thomas can help strengthen the artistic team in this production, and we are very happy to have an actor from our own region," smiles Daniel.

Daniel can report good sales figures, and on Monday extra performances were set up to welcome even more people into the monastery.

Southerner returns home

Even though his postal address is in Oslo, Thomas still has close ties to southern Norway.

- "I'm joining the moving truck of a giant production to the house where, in many ways, I started my career. Usually I go home to play "On freshly cut paths", now I'm going to play a gang member around Easter time," says Thomas.

Are there any similarities between "On freshly cut paths" and Sister Act?

- Absolutely, both are about humor, timing, a little seriousness and not least great musical numbers. Quite simply a musical-humorous-feelgood-extravaganza if you will.