When the lights dim and the conductor taps his baton for the
orchestra’s attention and anticipation spreads throughout the
audience, sometimes we are pleased and sometimes we are
disappointed.
When the lights dim and the conductor taps his baton for the orchestra’s attention and anticipation spreads throughout the audience, sometimes we are pleased and sometimes we are disappointed.
Dreamgirls definitely does not disappoint. This electrifying production moves at a wild pace that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats until the final curtain.
Dreamgirls opened in New York Dec. 20, 1981 to rave reviews and ran for 1521 performances. It won six Tony Awards and the 1982 Grammy Award for Best Cast Show Album. It was considered the most expensive Broadway production at that time.
Loosely based on the rise of the singing group the Supremes at a time when Motown and black artists had their “place.” The plot takes place in the 60’s and 70’s when a young, inexperienced and talented trio – The Dreamettes: Effie, Deena, and Lorrell – come from Chicago to New York to appear in a contest at the Apollo Theater. They lose the contest by an underhanded play by Curtis Taylor, an ambitious manager, but he realizes their talent and hires them as backup singers for one of his clients.
Under Curtis’ management the Dreamettes become a successful singing group on their own and he gets them to ‘cross over’ from R and B to the lucrative, lighter pop music area.
Effie who has carried the lead is reduced to backing up for Deena and is eventually dropped from the group because of the image Curtis is trying to project for the group. The group goes on to great success but empty lives. A bitter Effie goes on to try to eke out a living in show business and making records and eventually succeeds. Curtis gets his due and the friends reunite one last time before breaking up the act.
Don’t let the melodramatic plot veer you off. The meticulous direction, sets, staging, music, choreography and lighting are enough to hold you in your seats. Then there is the splendid and flawless cast. They are all, without exception, an enlightened group that delivers the performance of their lives. Talent abounds. Casting for this production is perfection.
But it is Frenchie Davis who ultimately glows above the rest and reaches the depths of her soul in her portrayal of Effie White, and with what is now her signature number “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” She touches the audience in that special way that you know theater history is being made – and you are privileged to be a part of it.
For an upbeat evening of great music and entertainment, Dreamgirls is the ticket.
Camille Bounds is the arts and entertainment editor for the western division of Sunrise Publicastions.
