Earlier this year, movie legend Whoopi Goldberg reunited the cast of one of her greatest films, “Sister Act 2,” to celebrate the film’s 30th anniversary. Taking the cast to the ABC chat show, “The View,” this clip is overflowing with nostalgia and the flawless feeling of gospel music, amassing over 1.9 million views on YouTube in just a matter of months.
Another clip of the cast singing “Joyful, Joyful” has also gone viral, currently standing at 2.5 million YouTube hits.
Whoopi wears her classic Catholic nun habit, as first iconically sported in the Sister Act films, reprising her role as choir conductor and leading the cast through a series of “la la la” vocal exercises. But when the 46-year-old Ryan Toby, who was 17 when he starred as Ahmal in the films, breaks into the first line of “Oh Happy Days,” the flashback is simply unstoppable.
The live audience hoots as the R&B singer takes the lead, while Whoopi comically commands the rest of the choir. Clapping and swaying to the gospel organ, the choir’s church vibes become extravagant enough to cleanse and ignite any Music Man reader’s soul whilst resurrecting one of the most fabulous moments of 90s cinema.
It’s existentially wild to witness child actors from 30 years ago all grown up and singing the same songs from their youth just as well as on the movie set and soundtrack, yet now in adult voices. And to watch Whoopi bring back such a legendary character and stay in role through this skit has proved to be the ultimate throwback for her fans.
However, Lauryn Hill, doubtlessly the biggest star of the Sister Act movies, who found fame shortly after with The Fugees’ #1 single “Killing Me Softly” and solo hits including “Doo Wop (That Thing),” sadly did not return for this reunion. Her lead lines on “Joyful, Joyful” were filled by fellow cast member Tanya Trotter. One YouTube commenter drew a hilarious parallel to the Sister Act plot, writing, “Looks like Lauryn’s mom still ain’t wanting her in the choir to this day!”
Whoopi Goldberg revealed to The Independent why she thinks the Sister Act films have attained such a sensational legacy able to persist 30 years on, commenting, “Worldwide, it doesn’t matter how old you are, you are the age of those kids when you see the movie. 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.”