While the idea of an obviously Jewish nun was very funny in the initial plans for Bette Midler to star in this smash hit Touchstone comedy, the ultimate re-casting with Whoopie Goldberg probably did this more good in the long run. The story wasn't anything new, but the execution was so wonderful that it became one of the runaway comedy hits of the summer of 1993 and inspired both a sequel and a hit Broadway musical ultimately produced by the Whoop-ster herself. This basically could almost be called a semi-sequel to the 1960's pair of "nun" comedy's, "The Trouble With Angels" and "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows", as one of those film's nuns (Mary Wickes) is back again in the habit, and in the follow-up film to this ("Sister Act II, Back in the Habit"), she was once again behind the wheel of a bus, delivering funny lines and gently stealing the film from Whoopie and the most memorial mother superior in film history, the wonderful Maggie Smith.
There's no originality in the plot of second string Vegas singer Goldberg hiding out in a convent after seeing her white mobster lover kill a snitch. But what happens in a convent hopefully stays in the convent, that is until Goldberg takes over the ultra flat chorus and turns them into earthly "Supreme" beings. Their singing gets the attention of locales not interested in church, and before you can make a sign of the cross, "his holiness", the pope, is on his way for a visit, and Goldberg's hiding place is about to be revealed. After all, even in a habit, she looks conspicuously out of place, but even with putting the convent in danger and disturbing Mother Maggie's sanctity with a Catholic version of a nightclub show, she changes many lives, especially hers.
It is the music here that thrills, as do many of the wise-cracking comments Goldberg makes. Even the tightly wound Maggie gets in her usual acidic comment when Bishop Joseph Maher reminds her of her duty to those in need and her vow of charity. "I lied", she dryly says. Newcomer Kathy Najimy also gets a few good lines in as a plump cheery nun who has a singing voice that could be used to warn of air raids. "My mother told me I should become either a stewardess or a nun", she cheerily smiles, adding "Coffee?" Newcomer Wendy Makkena is the shy noviate nun who with Goldberg's help proves that she does have a voice. The foursome of Goldberg, Wickes, Najimy and Makkena becomes a lovable clique, while various Broadway veterans surround out the chorus of other nuns as well.
The Broadway musical had a long journey from its initial try-outs in Pasadena and Atlanta to New York, and fortunately, what seemed forced and rushed in the early Pasadena staging (where the Reverand Mother was written much more colder than Smith's and lightened up greatly) came together once it got to Broadway. It was a crowd-pleasing hit for two years, showing that with some divine intervention, this lovable film could put a smile on the face of even the staunchest critics. Even Goldberg as producer got into the mix for a bit when she briefly played Mother Superior in London. Seeing both variations of the stage show gave me the deepest respect for the out-of-town tryout, and loving this film as much as I do, I can appreciate the need to have it on stage even if the film in its own way is pretty much a guaranteed sale. So whether your spirituality is total bible thumping or barely existent or maybe even absent, unless you've been grabbed by evil demons which require an exorcism, you can't help but adore this cheerful look into the world of nuns which make them much more human than their undeserved reputations have allowed them to be.
There's no originality in the plot of second string Vegas singer Goldberg hiding out in a convent after seeing her white mobster lover kill a snitch. But what happens in a convent hopefully stays in the convent, that is until Goldberg takes over the ultra flat chorus and turns them into earthly "Supreme" beings. Their singing gets the attention of locales not interested in church, and before you can make a sign of the cross, "his holiness", the pope, is on his way for a visit, and Goldberg's hiding place is about to be revealed. After all, even in a habit, she looks conspicuously out of place, but even with putting the convent in danger and disturbing Mother Maggie's sanctity with a Catholic version of a nightclub show, she changes many lives, especially hers.
It is the music here that thrills, as do many of the wise-cracking comments Goldberg makes. Even the tightly wound Maggie gets in her usual acidic comment when Bishop Joseph Maher reminds her of her duty to those in need and her vow of charity. "I lied", she dryly says. Newcomer Kathy Najimy also gets a few good lines in as a plump cheery nun who has a singing voice that could be used to warn of air raids. "My mother told me I should become either a stewardess or a nun", she cheerily smiles, adding "Coffee?" Newcomer Wendy Makkena is the shy noviate nun who with Goldberg's help proves that she does have a voice. The foursome of Goldberg, Wickes, Najimy and Makkena becomes a lovable clique, while various Broadway veterans surround out the chorus of other nuns as well.
The Broadway musical had a long journey from its initial try-outs in Pasadena and Atlanta to New York, and fortunately, what seemed forced and rushed in the early Pasadena staging (where the Reverand Mother was written much more colder than Smith's and lightened up greatly) came together once it got to Broadway. It was a crowd-pleasing hit for two years, showing that with some divine intervention, this lovable film could put a smile on the face of even the staunchest critics. Even Goldberg as producer got into the mix for a bit when she briefly played Mother Superior in London. Seeing both variations of the stage show gave me the deepest respect for the out-of-town tryout, and loving this film as much as I do, I can appreciate the need to have it on stage even if the film in its own way is pretty much a guaranteed sale. So whether your spirituality is total bible thumping or barely existent or maybe even absent, unless you've been grabbed by evil demons which require an exorcism, you can't help but adore this cheerful look into the world of nuns which make them much more human than their undeserved reputations have allowed them to be.