The Holyoke High Music Department came back at it again this year with a spectacular production of Sister Act, a rendition of the 1992 divine musical comedy film starring Whoopi Goldberg!

The musical follows the story of a Vegas singer, Deloris Van Cartier, who witnesses a murder and is put under witness protection in a convent where she must pretend to be a nun in order to protect herself from a mob man out to get her.

Opening night (Thursday, March 23), the following nights (Friday, March 24 and Saturday, March 25), and the last show (Sunday March 26) all invited students, families, and members of the community to the school to take a pew and show their support for the cast and crew. This included Mayor Alex Morse, who attended the Saturday evening show.

The show brought so much joy to everyone in the audience who is familiar with the original film version and introduced others to the world and characters in an unforgettable way. From Doloris, played by Margarita Velazco Garcia 18’, the spontaneous and fabulous wannabe star pretending to be the complete opposite of who she is, to Mother Superior, the stoic yet melodious leader of the nuns played by Audriana Cruz 17’, the cast was able to vividly bring the film to life on stage.

Some of the biggest hits were scenes like when sweaty Eddie, played by Connor Norton 18’, broke out into a solo in his own song “I Could Be That Guy” in which he shared his inner struggles with wanting to be a better version of himself and when mobsters Pablo, TJ, and Joey, all played by Josh Fernandez 18’, Javier Vargas 17’, and Joseph Lebron 18’, decide to seduce the nuns at the convent where they knew Doloris is hiding.

Although Sister Act is mainly a comedy, a love story was also brought to life by lead Velazco Garcia and Norton. You can clearly see the romance between them blossoms and how it played a role in their character development.

The fourth wall was occasionally broken as characters addressed the audience directly and had them interact with them for some scenes (ex. Clapping when asked to or pretending to be at the church with the nuns)

The crew nailed the small things that make Sister Act come to life: religious jokes about being a nun, references to Whoopi Golberg herself, catchy songs, and having a large diverse cast that sometimes delivered lines in other languages like Spanish to make everyone feel welcome.

Both the cast and crew put so much hard work and dedication to this musical and it was most definitely shown on stage. Even if you unfortunately didn’t catch the show, it is safe to say that Holyoke High’s annual spring musical was yet another successful hit! Amen!

Check out our exclusive photo gallery below – photos by Katie Keane: