Lady in the Long Black Dress Lyrics – Sister Act The Musical

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

This is the score’s comic seduction clinic. Alan Menken leans into a 1970s soul-disco palette - strutting bass, cheesecloth strings, winking horns - while Glenn Slater laces the patter with mock-pious pickup lines. The trio of henchmen trade baritone croon, falsetto flashes, and rhythmic asides that play like three bad ideas harmonizing. On record the groove sits deep, and the punch lines hit clean. It’s a palate cleanser between plot turns, and a reminder that this show loves its period stylings.

Highlights

• Call-and-response built for laughs - each guy’s “move” lands on the backbeat before the chorus snaps shut.
• Slater’s rhyme games (“missionary of romance”) ride Menken’s slick chord lifts like a knowing wink to Philly-soul clichés.
• Studio mix lets the rhythm section do the work while the vocals riff in character - comedy by arrangement.

Creation History

Sister Act opened at the London Palladium on June 2, 2009. The Original London Cast album followed that summer on Stage Entertainment in the UK, recorded and mixed at British Grove Studios in June and July 2009. Producers of the album are Doug Besterman, Michael Kosarin, and Alan Menken. Ghostlight later issued the recording in the U.S. - digital March 22, 2011, CD March 29.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Act II: Curtis Shank’s goons - TJ, Bones, and Dinero - brainstorm how to infiltrate the convent. Their brilliant plan? Seduce the sisters. The number plays as a funk-tilted fantasy in which the trio preen and purr their way through ever more ridiculous double entendres, all while the plot tightens around Deloris.

Song Meaning

It’s comic relief with character work baked in. The music flatters their self-image - lush strings, creamy chords - while the lyrics expose their clueless bravado. The gag lands because the arrangement treats their delusions like a love bible study, complete with faux-devotional asides and exaggerated romance tropes. The message is subtextual: swagger without wisdom is noise you can dance to.

Annotations

“Hey, lady in the long black dress, let’s give you something to confess.”

- The confessional turns transactional. Slater flips sacred language into secular come-ons, sketching the show’s rogues with one bar.

“Come on, say hiya to your love Messiah.”

- Messianic wordplay sits on a nightclub cadence. It’s blasphemy played for farce, not scandal, and it tells you exactly how these men see themselves.

Style and rhythm

Menken’s 70s pastiche does the heavy lifting - a steady four-on-the-floor under velvet strings and winked-at horn stabs. It’s the same period love that colors the score at large, redirected here into a slow-jam strut.

Who sings it on the album

Nicolas Colicos (Bones), Thomas Goodridge (TJ), and Ivan De Freitas (Dinero) - the original West End trio.

Key Facts

• Artists: Thomas Goodridge, Nicolas Colicos, Ivan De Freitas
• Writers: Alan Menken - music; Glenn Slater - lyrics
• Album: Sister Act (Original London Cast Recording)
• UK Release: June 27, 2009 - Stage Entertainment Ltd
• U.S. Release: March 22, 2011 digital; March 29, 2011 CD - Ghostlight Records
• Producers (album): Doug Besterman, Michael Kosarin, Alan Menken
• Recorded: British Grove Studios, London - June and July 2009
• Length: 4:27
• Track #: 12 on the London cast album
• Language: English
• Genre: West End show tune with 70s soul-disco pastiche
• Orchestration: Doug Besterman
• Label: Stage Entertainment Ltd (UK); Ghostlight Records (U.S.)

Questions and Answers

When did Thomas Goodridge, Nicolas Colicos & Ivan De Freitas release “Lady In The Long Black Dress”?

On the UK cast album issued June 27, 2009; Ghostlight handled the U.S. release in March 2011.

Who wrote “Lady In The Long Black Dress”?

Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater.

Where does the number fall in the show?

Act II, as TJ, Bones, and Dinero plot to lure Deloris out of the convent.

Who performs it on the Original London Cast recording?

Nicolas Colicos, Thomas Goodridge, and Ivan De Freitas.

How long is the track on the album?

About 4 minutes and 27 seconds.

Awards and Chart Positions

• The original West End production received 2010 Olivier nominations including Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Patina Miller), and Best Supporting Performance (Sheila Hancock).
• The Broadway production later earned five Tony nominations, including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

Additional Info

Track 12 on the London album, this cut spotlights the original henchmen trio. On Broadway, the character names shift to Joey, Pablo, and TJ, but the swagger stays put. A new West End revival single surfaced in 2024 with Bradley Judge, Tom Hopcroft, and Damian Buhagiar leading the track - proof the slow-jam joke still works.