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| The original Dreamettes in 1981 and the 2006 cast |
The 20th Anniversary of Dreamgirls is coming up this year. This movie was based off Broadway’s
1981 original became a smash hit. The original cast of Dreamgirls included Jennifer Holliday (The Rising Place, Change in the Wind, Broadway Beyond the Golden Age), Loretta Devine (Madea's Big Happy Family, Preacher's Wife, Waiting to Exhale, Kingdom Come, This Christmas, and PJs, ), and Sheryl Lee Ralph (Sister Act 2, Moesha, Abbott Elementary,) . All three of these ladies have gone on to receive high achievements, in music, movies, and television work. The play debuted on December 20, 1981. The same year both Beyonce (9/04)and Jennifer (9/12)were born in September of 1981. See timing is everything even when it comes to when you are born, who you’re going to meet, and your future famous co-workers.
So I believe these ladies were chosen for a reason to perform all together.
Dreamgirls is a play focused on 3 16-year-old aspiring singers: "Effie Melody White", "Deena Jones", and "Lorrell Robinson" looking to break out and hit big during the 1960s.
The play and film both take you on a ride through their journey from budding artists to full blown superstars. The film has so many songs people still remember the countless classic songs , “We are a family”, “When I First Saw You”, “And I am Telling You I’m Not Going”, “Perfect Man” , “I’m Somebody”, “Patience”, “One Night Only”, “I am Changing” “Dreamgirls”, and “Listen” was added later for the film adaptation that are still featured in many comedies, rom-coms, sitcoms, and more. The cast included Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, Anika Noni Rose, Beyonce, Sharon Leal, and of course, Jennifer Hudson.
- Jamie Foxx (“D’Jango Unchained”, “Ray”, “White House Down”, “Collateral”, “Back in Action”, “Law Abiding Citizen”, “Any Given Sunday”,”The Jamie Foxx Show”, “In Living Color”),
- Eddie Murphy (“Harlem Nights”, “the Shrek Franchise”, “Norbit”, “Nutty Professor”, “Nutty Professor: The Klumps”, “Boomerang”, “Coming to America 1 and 2”, “Beverly Hills Cop 1,2,3”, “The PJs”, “Dolemite”, “Raw”, “Delirious”, “You People”, “Tower Heist”, “Being Eddie”, “Dr Doolittle 1 and 2”) ,
- Keith Robinson (“Lyfe’s Journey”, “All Eyez on Me”, “Power”, “Dear John”, This Christmas”, “Dysfunctional Friends”, “Redemption in Cherry Springs”, “Fat Albert”. “35 & Ticking”) ,
- Anika Noni Rose (“Zootopia 2”, “Eyes of Wakanda”,” Everything, Everything”, “Maid”, “For Colored Girls”, “Body Cam”, “The No.1 Ladies Detective Show”, “Live Juliet”, “The Good Wife”, “Jingle Jangle”, “Princess and the Frog”)
- Beyonce Knowles-Carter ("Goldmember", MTV’s "Carmen", "Cadillac Records", "Fighting Temptations", "Obsessed", "The Lion King" (2019), "Mufasa" (2024)
- Sharon Leal (“Paper Friends”, “Why did I get married Franchise”, “Soul Men”,” This Christmas”, “Addicted”, “Freedom”, “Blindfire”, “Woman Thou Art Loosed”).
- Jennifer Hudson (“The Jennifer Hudson Talk Show”, “Respect”, “Empire”, “The Secret Life of Bees”, and “Sex and The City”,” Smash”,” American Idol”).
This movie has style, heart, humor, love, and fierceness. Just like the dynamic cast in the Dreamgirls Broadway play. Dreamgirls the film has a way of uplifting, making you root ,and cheer for all three women leads, and educates you on the music industry too. I love this film I actually thought “One Night Only” should have been on the radio and remixed again. It’s one of those songs that would have done well in the disco era, the eighties, remixed in the nineties, 2000s, and beyond.
It turns out it will have another shot to be heard live though in theaters. Dreamgirls is coming back to Broadway! Dreamgirls the 6 time Tony award winning play is coming back this fall in 2026. So get ready and make sure you take all of your fellow theater and musical lovers too. I hope to see all of my fellow “Dreamgirls” in the audience ready to sing and dance with the cast. For more information please stay tuned for official dates, previews, and opening night, the new cast, and more I will update very soon in the future and visit http://www.broadway.com for your tickets.
