TONY TUESDAY: Dreamgirls

This week, we are shooting back to the 1980’s for some iconic powerhouse musical theatre. This week’s TONY Tuesday is:

“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” from Dreamgirls at the 1982 TONY Awards ceremony. 

Dreamgirls is a musical with music by Henry Krieger and a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen. It is set in Chicago in the 1960’s and chronicles the rise to fame of female singing trio: “The Dreams”. The show is inspired by the success stories and similar aspirations of artists such as The Supremes, James Brown and The Shirelles.

The musical was first created for actor Nell Carter after she had appeared in Eyen’s musical, which was conducted by Krieger, and the pair were inspired to write a show for her. The musical was to be centred around black back-up singers and was originally called “One Night Only” before being changed to “Project #9”. Carter was joined by Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine to workshop the show, but it was put on hold when Carter secured a soap opera. A year later, they reunited to continue work on the show, this time being led by A Chorus Line director, Michael Bennet. The show was renamed to “Big Dreams”. As Nell Carter had been offered an NBC TV gig, 20-year-old gospel singer Jennifer Holliday was cast as her replacement. However, Holliday left early in the process due to disliking the material and creative choice to kill her character Effie at the end of Act One. The show continued to workshop and Jenifer Lewis took over the role of Effie. The project was renamed again to Dreamgirls and Jennifer Holliday returned briefly, however, left again as she was displeased that Ralph’s character of Deena had been expanded so much. After Bennet had secured enough capital to help produce the show, he called Holliday and offered to expand Effie’s character in the second act if she would return to the show. Holliday agreed. 

The musical opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on 20 December 1981. Bennet directed, co-produced and choreographed the production. The choreography was also by Michael Peters. The original production starred Sheryl Lee Ralph as Deena, Jennifer Holliday as Effie, Loretta Devine as Lorell, Ben Harney as Curtis, Cleavant Derricks as James ‘Thunder’ Early and Obba Babatunde as CC. The show was an immediate success and was nominated for thirteen 1982 TONY Awards, winning 6 including ‘Best Performance by a Lead Actress in a Musical’ for Holliday who, like many of the other members of the cast, were propelled to stardom. The show also won two Grammy awards and “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” reached number one on the R&B billboard charts in 1982. The production closed on 11 August 1985.   

The show toured briefly in 1983 including Holliday reprising her award-winning performance as Effie, but due to high costs the tour closed after three cities. The next tour commenced in 1985 with Sharon Brown as Effie, running for two years before Holliday’s original understudy Lillias White took over the role for the remainder of the tour, and a Broadway revival stint at The Ambassadors. The production was staged in concert format to benefit The Actors Fund of America in 2001. The production starred Audra McDonald as Deena, Lillias White as Effie, Heather Headley as Lorell, Billy Porter as Jimmy, Norm Lewis as Curtis and Darius de Haas as Curtis. It was one of the first major public gatherings held after the September 11th attacks. The show had a significant tour of the United States in 2009 which included the new song “What Love Can Do” at the top of Act Two and the introduction of ‘Listen’ from the film version, which was expanded to a duet for Effie and Deena. 

The first West End production of Dreamgirls opened at the Savoy Theatre in December 2016. The production was directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. The production starred Amber Riley as Effie, Liisi Lafontaine as Deena, Ibinabo Jack as Lorell, Joe Aaron Reid as Curtis, Adam J. Bernard as James ‘Thunder’ Early, and Tyron Huntley as CC. Not long into the run, Jack left the production and the role of Lorell was played by Asmeret Ghebremichael. Marisha Wallace, Karen Mav and Moya Angela all served as alternates for Effie throughout the run, with Wallace eventually taking the role over from Riley full time. The production closed on 12 January 2019. The production was nominated for 5 Olivier Awards, winning two for Riley and Bernard. The show also featured an expanded version of “Love, Love Me Baby”. 

Dreamgirls was adapted into a film in 2006, directed by Bill Condon for DreamWorks Pictures. The film starred Beyonce as Deena, Jennifer Hudson as Effie, Anika Noni Rose as Lorell, Eddie Murphy as Jimmy, Jamie Foxx as Curtis and Keith Robinson as CC. The movie proved a success and won two Academy Awards. To give the show more exposure, the DreamWorks team alongside the original licensee of the show Tams-Wittmark, offered to cover licensing costs of non-professional productions of the musical for the year of 2006. 

The musical was set to embark on a UK tour in September 2020 starring Nicole Raquel Dennis as Effie. Dennis had previously understudied the role in the West End Production. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the tour has been rescheduled. 

Dreamgirls is a movement. The show displays racial boundaries being broken down within the music industry by women of colour in a white male dominated world. It is a sensation. If you haven’t listened or watched it yet, get going!

Cast recordings available on streaming services. 

FACTS:

Music: Henry Krieger
Lyrics: Tom Eyen
Book: Tom Eyen
Theatre: The Imperial Theatre
Run: 20 December 1981 – 11 August 1985 (10 previews, 1,521 performances) 

TONYS: 

(NOMINATED) Best Musical, Best Original Score - Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – Sheryl Lee Ralph, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Obba Babatunde, Best Direction of a Musical – Michael Bennet, Best Scenic Design – Robin Wagner, Best Costume Design – Theoni V. Aldredge, Best Revival of a Musical (1988) 

(WON) Best Lighting Design – Tharon Musser, Best Book of a Musical – Tom Eyen, Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical – Ben Harney, Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical – Jennifer Holliday, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical – Cleavant Derricks, Best Choreography - Michael Peters and Michael Bennet. 

OLIVIERS:

(NOMINATED) Best New Musical, Best Costume Design – Greg Barnes, Outstanding Achievement in Music – Henry Krieger. 

(WON) Best Actress in a Musical – Amber Riley, Best Supporting Actor in a Musical – Adam J. Bernard.