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Sister Mary Patrick cant control herself.
She has a humble megawatt smile to match her fidgety enthusiasm that never,everwanes.
I wrote and performed in a two-woman feminist comedy show calledThe Kathy & Mo Show.
So I was doingThe Kathy & Mo Showin San Francisco.
I saw something onEntertainment Tonight, and it was Mary Hart.
Yeah, of course.She was talking aboutSoapdish, which I was in.
She said my name, and I was really excited.
Then the next announcement was about this musical that Touchstone was doing calledSister Actwith a bunch of singing nuns.
We were making good money for two women onstage, but still.
I woke up and took a cab to the airport and flew to Los Angeles.
At first, they just had us do a few improvs and read a little bit from the script.
I did that probably eight times.
I gleaned from her lines that she was overly positive.
That became my mantra.
I was taking whatever tiny bit of savings I had fromKathy & Moand flying myself there.
But then they started flying me out toward the end.
It kept working out, knock on wood.
Then I met withMarc Shaiman, and I sang a big, belt-y song at his apartment in Hollywood.
He said, Do you have anything else?
Mary Wickes, Im sure, didnt even have to audition because shes a legend.
Shes one of the greatest humans one of the most authentic, just says whatever the fuck she wants.
She was my role model.
Oh my God, I miss her.
Did they pair you with anyone interesting during these auditions?
Can you make any kind of a guess?
Okay, let me think.And her sister was huge with the gay community, a huge legend.
Did they sing together?They might have in their lives.
The one whos not with us anymore is older.
I want to be able to guess this.Put it in the article and see what you get back.
Somebody will be able to pick up on it, yes.Shes a great singer.
Anyway, I went back and I did the opera voice.
She moved to San Diego with her great daughter, Alex.
So you knew her beforeSoapdish, even.I knew her before any movie we had ever done together.
I knew her from the improv scene.
She was doing this brilliant show with a man namedDon Victorat a little theater.
So you didnt know Whoopi would be the lead of the film?I did not.
Then I got the call.
We had to kill the play down.
I think only four shows were left.
I assume you were going to earn more money fromSister Actthan from the play.Yeah.
I mean, we didnt get paid a lot for the firstSister Act.
And the play was of my loins.
It was about what I believe as a feminist.
It remains the biggest reflection of who I am.
Do you remember that consciously coming to you?I think that came right away.
She really was happy to be a nun, thrilled with everything.
It was really fun to play.
She barely had a concern:Yes, lets go up in a plane!
You mentioned singing during the auditions.
I think between Wendy and Mary and Whoopi and I, there was so much difference.
Mary Wickess singing in that is one of my favorite things ever.
Sometimes wed be singing and she would say, Get the oil can!
And Whoopi who, as far as I know, was not a singer studied and sang great.
We were gleeful at Whoopis singing voice.
Do you know who that role was supposed to go to?
Bette Midler, right?Yeah.
Im me because of Bette Midler.
Growing up, I was a crazy sycophant fan.
I have many stories about breaking in backstage and doing singing telegrams for her.
Singing telegrams?Oh, I did all kinds of things to give a shot to meet her.
So you made it backstage as a singing telegram?Oh, yeah.
I worked at Live Wire Singing Telegrams in San Diego to make money.
Ive run backstage past guards to meet her at concerts.
So that was inspired by me, which freaked me out.
Me and my friends were screaming in the movie theater.
We couldnt believe it!
That is incredible, and of course it all comes full circle withHocus Pocusjust a few years later.
But none of us onSister Actwere pressured into being big Broadway singers because we were nuns, not Beyonce.
I can only speak for myself, but it was my real voice and Whoopis real voice.
We had lots of music rehearsals.
They were always lots of fun.
Because you need that sort of feedback on a comedy.And she didnt have to do that.
What do you remember about those pranks?There were so many.
Wendy was so much fun and a close friend of mine.
We were in our hotel room in Reno, and we ordered fries and I think wine.
We were there in our nuns outfits.
What stands out to you aboutSister Act 2?The greatest thing about the second one was the kids.
We loved those kids.
They were so much fun and so talented.
I loved having lunch with her because she was so deep and introspective and so smart.
We were talking one day, and she was drawing something.
She goes, Its just a logo.
Im starting this band with a couple of these guys.
And it turned out to be the Fugees.
She has the soul of an 80-year-old, and the other kids were so much fun, too.
Whoopis daughter, Alex, was in it.
They were so talented.
When we got those kids, the music really went to a different level.
The second movie has different writers, a different director, a different cinematographer, and a different setting.
The kids were so open and eager and not like Hollywood kids.
I loved both experiences, I really did.
And Im not a person who says that a lot.
You have twoSister Actmovies andHocus Pocusin a two-year span.
My political core is what Im most close to.
I would never weaken that.
I went into some really serious roles and then bounced back to comedy.
But those were the vehicles where I got the most known.
