December 20 1981,  The musical “Dreamgirls” opened on Broadway at the Imper

December 20 1981,  The musical “Dreamgirls” opened on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre. The show was based on the careers of the Supremes.

Starring Jennifer Holliday, Obba Babatunde, Cleavant Derricks, Loretta Devine, Ben Harney, and Sheryl Lee Ralph, the musical follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago get their big break at an amateur competition and begin singing backup vocals for James “Thunder” Early. However, things begin to spin out of control when their agent, Curtis Taylor, Jr., makes Deena and not Effie, the star of what will become known as “The Dreams.”

Dreamgirls went on to do 1521 performances with 1 revival performance in 2001. There has been a movie based on this musical that stars
Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé Knowles, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, Keith Robinson, and Sharon Leal.