Sister Act 2 celebrated its 30th anniversary last year, and the bonds among its cast are stronger than ever. On the latest episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg reunited with the original choir from the film for a special celebratory performance of “Oh Happy Day” and “Joyful, Joyful.”
Ryan Toby, the actor who played Ahmal in the 1993 film, returned for the performance, as did Kathy Najimy, Wendy Makkena, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Monica Calhoun, Alex Martin, David Kater, Frank Odell Howard, Dionna Nichelle, Jermaine Montell, Tanya Trotter, DeeDee Magno Hall, Ashley Thompson, and Deondray Gossfield.
For “Joyful, Joyful,” the cast was joined by students from New York’s LaGuardia High School of Music & Art. By the end of the performances, Goldberg was brought to tears. “Worldwide, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you are the age of those kids when you see the movie,” the actress said. “You’re the age of them and you remember your time and you remember how happy you were that you didn’t have to go to Catholic school. But then you remember how sorry you are that you didn’t get to go to Catholic school and you missed out on teachers like this. So I think people just feel themselves here.”
And while some cast members were unable to attend the reunion, they sent their love and appreciation through recorded video segments. “I was very young, a teenager in fact. I got to work with the queen, Whoopi Goldberg. She was the kindest, coolest person to me ever,” Jennifer Love Hewitt shared. “I got to hear Lauryn Hill sing every day, just right outside the trailer or right in front of my face. All of you are the best and I’m just sending lots and lots of love. I wish that I could be with you. If you guys need me in No. 3, just call me up!”
Last year, Jennifer Hudson paid homage to the film during a special Halloween episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show while dressed as Goldberg’s character, Sister Mary Clarence. “That’s the power of an icon like Whoopi Goldberg,” Hudson said. “It helped me create my dreams. One, I wanted to be in the movie. And if nothing else, I would go to school and be like, maybe I could sit at my desk and sing a song like that. Or, maybe somebody will hand me the microphone so I can get up and sing like that. You think, you know, maybe I could be in a musical one day and sing a song. That would have been a dream for me to be able to do that.”
Michaela Coel in ‘The Christophers.’Claudette Barius/NEON
