June 6, 2024

Oh Happy Day: This “Sister Act 2” Reunion is the Most Joyful Thing I’ve Seen All Week.

Sometimes, you just want to share something that makes you smile.

If you’re a millennial, or just someone who loves a great movie, odds are you’ve seen “Sister Act” and it’s equally entertaining sequel, “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.”

Growing up, these were some of my favorite movies. I knew the lyrics to all the songs and can still remember the choreography from when the students at fictional Saint Francis Academy performed “Joyful, Joyful.”

So I was all smiles, and some tears, yesterday when I saw a clip from “The View” of the cast of “Sister Act 2” reuniting to perform songs from the movie with Sister Mary Clarence herself, co-host Whoopi Goldberg.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the movie, which makes me feel a little old—but in a good way.

I realize how lucky I am to have had the kind of childhood where I was exposed to music and art and creativity and given the freedom to express myself. The kind of childhood where I sang and danced and memorized movie quotes and read books and wrote stories and always had the support of my family and my teachers to do so.

One of my favorite scenes from “Sister Act 2,” not including the musical numbers, was when Goldberg’s character—a Las Vegas showgirl posing as a nun posing as a music teacher at a Catholic high school—speaks to Rita (played by a young Lauryn Hill), a student who dreams of singing but doesn’t trust her talent and fears disappointing her strict mother.

This advice has stuck with me for 30 years:

“I know you want to sing because I love to sing. Nothing makes me happier. I either wanted to be a singer or the head of the Ice Capades…

I went to my mother, who gave me this book called Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke. He’s a fabulous writer. This fella used to write to him and say, ‘I want to be a writer. Please read my stuff.’ And Rilke says to this guy, ‘Don’t ask me about being a writer. If when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing, then you’re a writer.’ 

I’m gonna say the same thing to you: If you wake up in the morning, and you can’t think of anything but singing first, then you supposed to be a singer, girl.”

If you’re struggling to figure out what and where you’re meant to be in this world, I hope this advice can guide you too.

And if you’re looking for a reason to smile and sing and maybe shed some happy tears today, I encourage you to watch the cast of “Sister Act 2” as they reunite to perform on “The View.”

These two performances are the most joyful things I’ve seen all week:

~

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