“Sister Act 2” Cast Reunites to Sing 'Joyful, Joyful' and 'Oh Happy Day,' 30 Years After Film — Watch

Whoopi Goldberg once again got back in the habit for two emotional performances on the hit ABC talk show

The View stared on a high note on Wednesday, June 5, as the cast of Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit reunited to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the beloved sequel.

ABC's hit daytime series opened with Goldberg, once again dressed as her character Sister Mary Clarance, leading her former castmates — including City High vocalist Ryan Toby (Ahmal) — in a rendition of "Oh Happy Day," one of the biggest numbers from the film.

The song was just the beginning of the celebrations that saw the Sister Act 2 stars come back together to share memories of their time working on the film, which followed Goldberg's Deloris Van Cartier as sheassumes her nun persona to lead the high school choir at her alma mater in hopes of keeping the facility from closing.

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Asked about the lasting legacy of the property, Goldberg said that she thinks it's because "everybody recognizes themselves" in the characters.

"Worldwide, it doesn't matter how old you are, you are the age of those kids when you see the movie," the EGOT winner, 68, explained. "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."

Included with Toby in the get together was 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.

Each reminisced about their time together making the movie, many of the young stars praising Goldberg for her support off-camera — like when she threw an on-set graduation for the high school actors who had missed their own ceremonies during filming.

Related: Whoopi Goldberg Staged a High School Graduation on Sister Act 2 Set for Cast Who Missed Ceremony (Exclusive)

Missing from the fun was Lauryn Hill, played standout student singer Rita Watson. But Ralph — who starred as Florence Watson, Rita's disapproving mother — did look back on an infamous scene she had in the film in which she told her daughter that there wasn't a career in the arts.

"I had no idea that that scene was going to land that way," the Abbott Elementary star, 67, said of the moment, that's become a popular meme. "In my mind I was channeling my Jamaican mother when I told her I was going to be an actress. 'You're going to be an actress? Working with all of those fake a phony people? On my heard-earned money? No! No!' So in my mind in that scene, I'm playing my mom. If my mom could have seen these things, she'd say, 'Lord God Jesus, you're good girl!' "

Related: Whoopi Goldberg Stages a 'Joyful Joyful' Sister Act 2 Reunion on The View for Film's 30th Anniversary (Exclusive)

Music supervisors Marc Shaiman and Mervyn Warren were also on hand. During a conversation with The View co-hosts Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin and Alyssa Farah Griffin, they shared secrets of the putting together the movie's entertaining musical numbers — Shaiman arguing that a version of "To Sir with Love" meant to close out the story was incorrectly vetoed by a producer.

"So maybe Sister Act 3?" he joked.

Warren, meanwhile, noted that he recorded the "La La Las" in "Oh Happy Day" meant to be sung by Goldberg as a placeholder. But "so much happened during the production and we were doing so many things, that we never got Whoopi back into this studio. So to this day, the La La Las are my voice, and not Whoopi's."

Related: Whoopi Goldberg Asks a Teary Sheryl Lee Ralph to Come Back for Sister Act 3 on The View

Elsewhere in the episode, videos played from Sister Act 2 stars who couldn't make the reunion: Jenifer Lewis, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Erica Campbell and Alanna Ubach.

Working on Sister Act 2 is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me," said Hewitt, who was just 13 when she made the movie. "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. 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," she said, adding. "If you guys need me in No. 3, just call me up!"

Related: The War and Treaty Talk Marriage — and How 'Our Love' Paved Their Long Road to the Grammys (Exclusive)

The show ended with a performance of "Joyful Joyful" led by Trotter, who is part of the Grammy nominated duo The War & Treaty. Earlier on the The View, she said that she auditioned for the film "nine or ten times" before Goldberg heard her sing in a Los Angeles call back.

"I didn't end up getting the role, but [Whoopi] pulled me to the side and she said, 'I'm going to make sure that the world hears your voice,' " Trotter recalled.

Goldberg would deliver on her promise, Tanya appearing in a Sister Act 2 scene where she sang "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" with Hill. "[Whoopi] took us over to her house with Bill Duke, one of the writers, and they wrote that scene in the movie," said Trotter. "It wasn't even in the script. And it changed the trajectory of my life, it really did."

Trotter's voice was on full-display for "Joyful Joyful" number, which saw the cast not only recreate every note of the number but also most of its memorable choreography.

Students from LaGuardia High School of Music and Arts and Performing Arts helped fill out the number, as did surprise fans from the audience.

After the performance, a tearful Goldberg hugged her costars, the impact the performance had on the star clearing wash over her face.

"Don't forget: Sister Act 3 is in the works," she said at the end of the episode about the upcoming sequel. "The script is in and I can't wait for the day I can say, 'Come along for the ride because I got that green light.' "

The View airs weekdays at 11 a.m. ET on ABC.

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