Take Me to Heaven Lyrics – Sister Act The Musical

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

First number, first jolt: the band drops a late-70s club groove, and Deloris Van Cartier struts on like she owns the oxygen. Alan Menken writes hooks that sit right in a belter’s mask; Glenn Slater packs the lyric with winked double meanings and nightclub patter. The arrangement punches in bright brass, syncopated guitar, and four-on-the-floor drums, then lets the backing trio swirl around the lead line. It’s a curtain-raiser with a thesis - pleasure, presence, and zero apology.

Creation History

The song opens Sister Act in the West End production that premiered at the London Palladium on June 2, 2009, with Patina Miller originating Deloris. The Original London Cast Recording released internationally in 2009 and received a U.S. issue via Ghostlight Records in March 2011. The track itself is the album’s second cut.

Highlights - quick hits

1. Style fuse: disco-soul chassis with Broadway musculature; the chorus lands hard enough to cue a lighting bump.
2. Lyric construction: nightclub ecstasy framed as mock-hymnal devotion - a joke the show later flips in the Act I reprise.
3. Pocket candy: horn stabs and call-and-response backing that make space for improv flourishes onstage.
4. Character delivery: Deloris sells swagger as survival - charm first, steel underneath.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

We’re at Curtis’s club, and Deloris is working the room with her two backups. She’s expecting this gig to launch her career; the number paints her deal in neon - ambition, appetite, and a prayer to hit the big time. Later, the same tune will resurface as a quasi-hymn when Deloris repurposes it for the convent - sensual ecstasy translated into communal lift.

Song Meaning

On the surface: a disco valentine. Underneath: a permission slip to want loudly. The lyric courts blasphemy for the laugh, then pivots toward liberation - bodies in motion as a route to belonging. You hear it in the harmonic language too: bright dominant vamps and rising bass figures that feel like a staircase.

Annotations

KT/LAROSA: KT and Larosa are Deloris’s backup singers.

Strut: Walk with pride and confidence.

Thing: Thinga

Historical touchpoint

Contemporary reviews clocked how the writers reframe a club banger into a quasi-religious stomp in the Act I finale - same melody, different altar.

Production & instrumentation

On record: crisp drum kit, rhythm guitar on 16ths, stacked female backing vocals, bright brass lines, and a bass part that favors octave pops - all riding a fast club tempo. Digital providers list the original nightclub cut around 148 BPM in A? major; the reprise sits lower, often notated around F major.

Key Facts

• Artist: Patina Miller
• Composer: Alan Menken
• Lyricist: Glenn Slater
• Release Date: June 27, 2009
• Album: Sister Act (Original London Cast Recording)
• Label/rights: Stage Entertainment UK Ltd. (2009); U.S. distribution by Ghostlight Records (2011)
• Genre: disco-soul meets Broadway show tune
• Instruments: vocal trio, brass, rhythm section (guitar, bass, keys, drums)
• Mood: flirty, high-energy, triumph-seeking
• Track #: 2
• Language: English
• Music style: late-70s dance floor palette with theatrical build
• © Copyrights: 2009 Stage Entertainment UK Ltd.; later U.S. issue via Ghostlight

Questions and Answers

When did Patina Miller release “Take Me To Heaven”?

June 27, 2009, on the Original London Cast Recording.

Who wrote “Take Me To Heaven”?

Music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Glenn Slater.

Where does it appear in the show?

It opens the club sequence in Act I and returns as a reprise to close Act I in a mock-hymnal setting.

Is there an official stream or upload tied to the cast album?

Yes - a “Provided to YouTube” audio of the London cast performance is available.

Any language adaptations?

Spanish productions perform it as “Llévame al cielo.”

Awards and Chart Positions

While the track itself did not post notable singles-chart action, the show surrounding it pulled major recognition. The original London production earned multiple 2010 Olivier Award nominations, including Best New Musical and Best Actress for Patina Miller. On Broadway, Sister Act received 2011 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical and Best Original Score.

How to Sing Take Me To Heaven

Vocal range & placement: Typical Deloris casting calls for an alto/mezzo who can belt up to F?5/G?5, with lows around E3. Place the verses forward in the mask; let the chorus sit in a healthy chest-mix to keep the groove punchy without forcing.

Key & tempo: Nightclub version often tracks around A? major at roughly 148 BPM; the Act I finale reprise is commonly set near F major at a slower feel.

Breath & phrasing: Mark breaths before the chorus pickups (the “take me…” entries). Keep consonants crisp on the disco-style 16ths; release vowels forward so the rhythm section stays tight under you.

Style notes: Think club-front vocal - clean attack, playful ad-libs, and permission to shade certain lines with a preacher’s cadence. If you’ve got dancers behind you, cue them with the last two measures before each chorus for clean hits.

Additional Info

Spanish productions play the opener as “Llévame al cielo,” keeping the same disco architecture with localized slang and club chatter. For the London premiere, critics noted how the number’s flesh-and-spirit gag pays off when it returns as a rafter-raising, tongue-in-cheek hymn.