Icons from 50 Years of 'The Young and the Restless' Celebrate Show's Golden Anniversary – See the Cast Photo

Stars of the soap opera, past and present, gathered for a photo to commemorate the milestone anniversary — and PEOPLE has an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the shoot

The Young and The Restless is preparing to celebrate its golden milestone!

The Daytime Emmy Award-winning CBS show kicked off its 50th anniversary season in September — and now, ahead of its 50th broadcast anniversary on March 26, PEOPLE has an exclusive look at the cast's glitzy group photo, and a behind-the-scenes look at their photo shoot.

The shot shows the current cast — including veteran stars Melody Thomas Scott, Eric Braeden, Eileen Davidson, Beth Maitland, Jess Walton, Peter Bergman and Christian Le Blanc — dressed to the nines in front of a golden backdrop.

Other actors featured in the shot include Tracey E. Bregman, Christel Khalil, Kate Linder, Bryton James, Melissa Claire Egan, Kelsey Wang, Conner Floyd, Cait Fairbanks, Courtney Hope, Brytni Sarpy, Trevor St. John, Greg Rikaart, Elizabeth Hendrikson, Rory Gibson, Zuleyka Silver, Allison Lanier, Melissa Ordway, Michelle Stafford, Jason Thompson, Joshua Morrow, Amelia Heinle, Sharon Case, Sean Dominic, Camryn Grimes, Mark Grossman, Lauralee Bell, Susan Walters, Michael Mealor, Mishael Morgan and Michael Graziadei.

In the clip, the stars speak about the show's milestone and the impact of the full cast snapshot. "What is so special about this day is you've never seen the entire cast together," says Bergman, who plays Jack Abbott.

Morrow, who portrays Nicholas Newman, adds: "It's like a high school reunion because our show is an enormous cast."

Ordway (Abby Newman) calls the photo "a moment in time of what's going on on The Young and the Restless" while Bregman (Lauren Fenmore Baldwin) and Maitland (Traci Abbott) emphasize the longevity of the show.

"To know that I've been there through four decades of these [photos], it's an extraordinary experience," says Bregman.

Notes Maitland: "It's unbelievable to have this much companionship and years watching each other grow."

James, who plays Devon Hamilton, adds: "Half a century of bringing joy to people's lives is a great thing to celebrate."