Dreamgirls
OPENING: December 21, 1981
CLOSING: August 11, 1985
Seen: February 1985
LOCATION: Imperial Theatre
Happy Holidays, Theatre Kids! Here is my gift to you - an entry! And may 2024 be prosperous to all of us!
By 1985, my parents were seeing shows pretty regularly. My guess is that my dad’s suave “You wanna see a Broadway show? We can get cheap tickets at the TKTS booth” wasn’t deterred by the trainwreck by the show they saw. By the amount of playbills between 1984 and 1985, they seemed to be going out every weekend. And it wasn’t limited to theater – they saw shows, concerts, and ballet.
But one show that I have consistently heard about since I can remember was the 1981 hit Dreamgirls.
Neither of them knew anything about it going in to it. It was a success story for TKTS for sure that I may share with them some day.
When they walked into the theater, it was very clear to them that a majority of the audience around them had already seen the show multiple times. For my dad in particular, this was very strange. Why would you spend the money on a show you had already seen – more than once? And then even more strange was when they got to the first act finale number and the singer walked out on stage. She hadn’t even started singing yet and the audience started applauding and cheering. What in the name of nuts was going on?
Theater Kids – those of you versed in Theater History know what was happening. It was a little ditty called And I Am Telling You (I’m Not Going).
Once she started singing, it all made sense to both of them. And I can honestly say that it was one of the few moments in my dad’s theater going career where he had an out of body experience as an audience member.
For those of you Theater Kids a little less in know, this song is an absolute anthem. It is a diva number for a down on her luck woman of color with a set of pipes that don’t quit. It was something that Broadway had never seen before and quite frankly, was very overdue.
Dreamgirls was originally created as a star vehicle for Nell Carter in 1975 by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger. It was based on Eyen’s straight play, The Dirtiest Show in Town, which he was trying to adapt into a musical. After several workshops and being joined by Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine as her bandmates, Carter abandoned the project in favor of the soap opera Ryan’s Hope in 1978.
But the project wasn’t dead. A year later, the very hot Michael Bennett, still soaring from the success of A Chorus Line, stumbled across the project and decided to take a chance on it.
Based loosely on the rise (And Fall) of Florence Ballard, Diana Ross and The Supremes in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, Dreamgirls follows R&B girl group The Dreams. Small town girls Effie, Deena, and Lorrell have big dreams of singing professionally. When they are found by talent manager Curtis and given the chance to sing backup behind established star Jimmy Early, the girls jump on the chance. But the road to stardom isn’t an easy one – Effie is pushed out of the lead spot of the group to be replaced by Deena and then eventually out the group completely, Deena is catapulted to individual stardom, and Lorrell becomes the third wheel in both the group and her relationship with Jimmy.
The similarities between Dreamgirls and The Supremes are shocking. It’s no secret that Deena Jones is theatrical model of Diana Ross – their names are even similar. But ironically, it can be argued that Effie’s story, though loosely modeled after the rise and fall of Florence Ballard, also mimics the story of the woman who brought her to life – Jennifer Holliday.
Jennifer Holliday got into theater accidentally. She was a standout church singer in Houston who kept getting offered singing gigs, until she became a minor local celebrity. Her ultimate goal was actually to become a lawyer. When she was offered a chance to audition for a touring production of Arms to Short to Box with God, a law career died and a singing career was born.
But when Tom Eyen cast her in Dreamgirls, something magical happened. The character of Effie White began to take shape, but over the course of the workshop process, Holliday had a few qualms. In the early workshops, the character of Effie actually sings her power ballad and then disappears from the show.
I mean….what?
Holliday was not pleased. And after being fired/quitting in protest, she and Michael Bennett came to an agreement where he would rewrite Act II to essentially make Effie the main character of the show and Holliday would return to the show.
It was a move by Bennett that paid off. Dreamgirls opened on December 21st, 1981. It went on to be nominated for a whopping thirteen Tony Awards, winning six – including Best Actress in a Musical.
And did the Dreamgirls curse of art imitating life continue after opening? Absolutely not. Loretta Devine, while the only Dream who was not nominated for a Tony, has had a solid career that continues to this day. Sheryl Lee Ralph, the original Deena, was also nominated for a Tony for her work in Dreamgirls and has also worked consistently since then. She is now entertaining audiences (Re: Entertaining me) as Barbara Howard on Abbott Elementary. And Jennifer Hudson won an Oscar for her portrayal of Effie in the 2006 movie.
My dad was convinced he would never see a first act finale quite as moving as And I Am Telling You. Since then, he has seen one that he has admitted comes close. I won’t mention what it is, but I will say it’s one that has had a profound impact on my life and it’s part of a show that’s still running and there will be multiple entries covering that particular show in the future. But the fact that a privileged white straight male had to wait over twenty years to even have a song that even came close to moving him the way that And I Am Telling You Did – that’s powerful. And it’s a testament to Jennifer Holliday. She had left the show by the time he saw it in 1985, but powerhouse Roz Ryan had taken over by that point. Roz is another one who has had a stellar career since the original Dreamgirls run; this show was truly a career maker.
Other than a quick two month run in 1987 and one night special presentation in 2001, Dreamgirls has yet to be revived. It is long overdue. I sometimes wonder if it’s because producers have yet to find an Effie who can carry the show. There’s currently a production going up at Goodspeed; perhaps we will have a revival next season?
CAST: REPLACEMENT
THE STEPP SISTERS: Teresa Burrell, Brenda Pressley, Graciela Simpson, Susan Beauian
CHARLENE: Adriane Lenox
JOANNE: Johnnie Teamer
MARTY: Vondie Curtis-Hall
CURTIS TAYLOR, JR: Ben Harney
DEENA JONES: Linda Leilani Brown
THE M.C.: Leon Summers, Jr
TINY JOE DIXON: Joe Lynn
LORRELL ROBINSON: Loretta Devine
C.C. WHITE: Lawrence Clayton
EFFIE MELODY WHITE: Roz Ryan
LITTLE ALBERT AND THE TRU-TONES: Barry Bruce, Abe Clark, Thomas Scott Gordon, Gordon Owens, Eric Riley
JAMES THUNDER EARLY: Cleavant Derricks
EDNA BURKE: Allison Williams
THE JAMES EARLY BAND: Barry Bruce, Abe Clark, Thomas Scott Gordon, Gordon Owens, Eric Riley, Stephen Terrell
WAYNE: Wellington Perkins
DAVE AND THE SWEETHEARTS: Paul Binotto, Candy Darling, Nina Hennessey
FRANK (A PRESS AGENT): Buddy Vest
MICHELLE MORRIS: Teresa Burrell
JERRY (A NIGHTCLUB OWNER): Joe Lynn
THE FIVE TUXEDOS: Barry Bruce, Thomas Scott Gordon, Gordon Owens, Eric Riley, Leon Summers Jr.
LES STYLE: Mary Denise Bentley, Brenda Pressley, Adriane Lenox, Johnnie Teamer
FILM EXECUTIVES: Paul Binotto, Hal Miller, Eric Riley
MR MORGAN: LEON SUMMERS JR
ANNOUNCERS, FANS, REPORTERS, STAGEHANDS, PARTY GUESTS, PHOTOGRAPHERS: Susan Beaubian, Mary Denise Bentley, Barry Bruce, Abe Clark, Candy Darling, Ronald Dunham, Thomas Scott Gordon, Nina Hennessey, Adriane Lenox, Johnnie Teamer, Stephen Terrell, Buddy Vest.
SWINGS: Charles Bernard, Brenda Braxton, Phillip Gilmore, Allison Williams.
UNDERSTUDIES: Brenda Pressley (Deena Jones, Effie White, Michelle Morris), Johnnie Teamer (Deena Jones, Michelle Morris), Susan Beaubian (Deena Jones, Lorrell Robinson, Michelle Morris); Kecia Lewis (Effie White); Teresa Burrell (Lorrell Robinson); Adriane Lenox (Lorrell Robinson); Vondie Curtis-Hall (Curtis Taylor, Jr); Larry Stewart (Curtis Taylor, Jr, James Thunder Early, Marty); Phillip Gilmore (James Thunder Early, M.C., Mr. Morgan); Lawrence Clayton (James Thunder Early); Wellington Perkins (C.C. White); Gordon Owens (C.C. White, Wayne); Leon Summers Jr (Marty); Hal Miller (Jerry, Dave, Frank); Paul Binotto (Jerry); Charles Bernard (Wayne, Tiny Joe Dixon); Eric Riley (Wayne); Frank DiFilia (Frank); and Abe Clark (M.C., Mr. Morgan).
Bordman, Gerald. “American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle.” New York: Oxford University Press, Inc., 1978.
“Dreamgirls History and Trivia” &Circle Players. Accessed December 2023. https://www.circleplayers.net/dreamgirls-history-page
Emerson, Ken. “New Face: Jennifer-Yvette Holliday A Voice Too Good to Keep From the Stage; It Started With 6 Months All Started In The Church.” New York Times, August 1, 1980. https://www.nytimes.com/1980/08/01/archives/new-face-jenniferyvette-holliday-a-voice-too-good-to-keep-from-the.html?searchResultPosition=4
Internet Broadway Database. “Dreamgirls.” Accessed December 2023. https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/dreamgirls-4152
Lawson, Carol. “She Fought Michael Bennett And Became His Star.” New York Times, December 22, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/22/theater/she-fought-michael-bennett-and-became-his-star.html?searchResultPosition=1
Playbill Staff. “Celebrate the Original Broadway Production of Dreamgirls of its 40th Anniversary.” Playbill, December 20, 2021. https://playbill.com/article/check-out-photos-of-the-original-broadway-production-of-dreamgirls
Rich, Frank. “Stage: ‘Dreamgirls, Michael Bennett’s New Musical, Opens.” New York Times, December 21, 1981. https://www.nytimes.com/1981/12/21/theater/stage-dreamgirls-michael-bennet-s-new-musical-opens.html?searchResultPosition=9
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. “Diana Ross.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed December 2023. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Diana-Ross
