To quote the most famous saying of its director Craig Revel Horwood - Sister Act is quite simply Fab-u-lous.

The musical, running at Canterbury's Marlowe Theatre until Saturday, July 1 opened in the city last night to a fantastic reception and a standing ovation for its lead actress and former X Factor singer Alexandra Burke.

The musical, based on the Whoopi Goldberg film of the same name, is set in 1977 and the year of Saturday Night Fever.

It follows singer and wannabe star Deloris van Cartier who sees her gangster boyfriend shoot someone dead in a Philidelphia nightclub.

Whisked into a witness protection programme by police, Deloris is moved to a convent where she is forced to pretend to be a nun in order to hide from her man Curtis.

And with contact with the outside world now limited and her vices of smoking and drinking and even wearing some of her inappropriate clothing all now banned, she turns to teaching the convent's less than talented choir to sing.

And boy can they (eventually!) sing.

And dance.

And all play a myriad of musical instruments from trumpets to trombones, saxophones to flutes.

The talent among the Sister Act cast is utterly mind-blowing, while fans of the original movie will be quickly able to pick out film favourites postulant Sister Mary Robert and the lively Sister Mary Patrick from the minute they arrive on stage as both model their characters so perfectly on the original personalities.

As for Deloris - or Sister Mary Clarence as she is named by the convent's Mother Superior - Alexandra Burke really is the most fitting choice. And lets be honest, she's sung duets with Beyonce, so why wouldn't she be?

With a voice that has got to be one of the most powerful in the pop music industry she has taken the role of the wayward nun, donned that habit and made it her own whilst still holding onto all the charm and wit of Whoopi Goldberg's original and much-loved character.

Sister Act is fun, it's lively, both comical and sentimental and is carried by a huge score of songs, ballads and gospel numbers that will leave you clapping and dancing in the aisles - or pews - by the time Curtis has been arrested, the convent's church has been saved from closure and the nun's realise Deloris actually is no nun at all.

To get in on the act visit marlowetheatre.com for your tickets (though they are few and far between).