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.
During development, “Dreamgirls” had a range of titles, including “Project #9″ and “Big Dreams”
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dreamgirls.okay so i have actually seen this movie before–but i only know that because leander told me i had, many years ago. i have zero memory of that happening. so when i was staying with @actuallyrorygilmore and remembered this was her only suggestion in april for a movie she’d wanted to show me (but we’d have to rent it at my house whereas she owns it at hers) i suggested we put it on. and i recognized none of it, experienced it as a whole new-to-me film…with one unsettling deja vu that i figured out later was due to glee.
so with that caveat, i thought i was watching this for the first time when i did recently. and i really liked it! it’s not my favorite film musical now or anything, but i for some reason didn’t realize it was an actual musical, i’d expected it to just be a music movie, so that was a nice surprise. and with that, i enjoyed what they decided to do with the movie above and beyond the main plot with the individuals and their relationships: they made it a story about music itself, how time changes music and performers and creators and the business, and how they respond to changes they can’t control. i guess i found it deeper in some ways, than i’d expected.
besides that, i’m sure i don’t have new insights to offer about this movie after all this time, lol. jennifer hudson is demanding to be given her stardom now please, and she earns every bit of it. (i didn’t realize or remember that this movie ‘introduced’ her, and wow, what an entrance.) beyonce is so little in this, i forgot how old the movie was until i saw her that young. she brings a lot of nuance to her acting, and since i wasn’t fully aware of her versatility and power until the lemonade era it was fun to see it here.
eddie murphy is also all over the map with his versatility, and the intensity he uses to bring his character to life–essentially creating a musical icon who never existed but could have–is really impressive. it worked, and it easily could have turned into a caricature instead. i enjoyed other cast surprises, like anika noni rose as their third singer, and while the fake-biopic arc hit pretty predictable beats, i was never bored. i’m glad i watched it again, with a fresh perspective.
