Anyone who grew up in the 90s will remember the movie Sister Act with great fondness. So it's no surprise that there was tremendous excitement when the cast of the hit musical based on it performed during the final of Britain's Got Talent.
The movie was released in 1992 and starred Whoopi Goldberg as Deloris Van Cartier, a former lounge singer. Dame Maggie Smith played the stern and severe Mother Superior, and Kathy Najimy was the bubbly and irrepressible Sister Mary Patrick. Deloris witnesses a murder and, with her life in danger, needs a place to hide out.
So, to her horror and Mother Superior's extreme misgivings, she becomes the nun, Sister Mary Clarence. Needless to say, she gets off to a rocky start. The food is terrible, she has to get up at the crack of dawn, and her robes chafe. Despairing that she will ever fit in and stop disrupting life in the convent, Mother Superior puts Mary Clarence in charge of the convent's truly terrible choir.
Of course, this is where it all comes good. Mary Clarence revolutionises the choir and brings the convent to life.
It's one of Whoopi Goldberg's most famous roles. So, it was great news for fans when a musical was created based on the movie. It initially appeared only in the United States, but by 2009 it had headed across the pond.
If you've never seen it, you should know that it differs from the movie. Many of the songs have been changed to move the plot along, as a theatre show cannot pack in everything a movie does. However, the spirit and sense of fun are identical, so the show is still a blast.
The current cast who appeared on Britain's Got Talent includes British comedienne Jennifer Saunders as Mother Superior, singer Beverley Night as Deloris and Keala Settle (the bearded lady in The Greatest Showman) as Sister Mary Patrick. Jennifer Saunders' singing ability is unknown, but that is unimportant as, and you may not have noticed this, Mother Superior does not sing at all in the movie. However, Jennifer has impeccable comedic timing, and that's why she kills it in this role.
If you missed it the first time, you need to check out the video, as it's so much fun. They perform a little of the show at first, where Sister Mary Clarence is given control of the choir. It's hilarious, even though it's done quite differently from the movie. Then we get to what we've all been waiting for, the singing!
The cast sing Raise Your Voice, which replaces I Will Follow Him as the song for the finale. The energy and calibre of their singing are breathtaking. Anyone who watched this performance must have gone online straight away to see if the show was coming to their town.
When the song ends, they receive a standing ovation from the audience and judges. For once, the judges have no critiques and simply cheer along with everyone else. Definitely a performance you shouldn't miss.