Dreamgirls - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
TWENTY-five years after first bringing Broadway audiences to their feet, the Tony Award-winning musical sensation Dreamgirls comes to the big screen, under the direction of Bill Condon – and it’s already being tipped as a possible Oscar contender.
“I was actually in the audience on opening night, and it was one of those experiences you never forget,” Condon states. “The original Broadway production of Dreamgirls was thrilling, with a brilliant cast and legendary staging by Michael Bennett.
“With the passage of time, I think it’s possible to take a fresh look at this material. The story of the crossover success of African American music during the 1960’s has a particular relevance today, when black culture almost defines the mainstream.”
The film brings together an ensemble of award-winning stars from the worlds of film, Broadway, television, and the recording industry, including Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx, singer and actress Beyonce Knowles and comedian Eddie Murphy, while also introducing world-wide audiences to American Idol finalist Jennifer Hudson, making her feature film debut.
Rounding out the main cast are veteran actor Danny Glover, Tony Award winner Anika Noni Rose (Broadway’s Caroline, or Change), Keith Robinson, Sharon Leal (TV’s Boston Public), and three-time Tony Award winner Hinton Battle (Miss Saigon, The Tap Dance Kid, The Wiz).
Set in the turbulent early 1960s to mid-70s, Dreamgirls follows the rise of a trio of women РEffie (Hudson), Deena (Beyonc̩) and Lorrell (Anika Noni Rose) Рwho have formed a promising singing group called The Dreamettes.
At a talent competition, they are discovered by an ambitious manager named Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Foxx), who offers them the opportunity of a lifetime: to become the back-up singers for headliner James “Thunder” Early (Murphy). Curtis gradually takes control of the girls’ look and sound, eventually giving them their own shot in the spotlight as The Dreams.
That spotlight, however, begins to narrow in on Deena, finally pushing the less attractive Effie out altogether. Though the Dreams become a crossover phenomenon, they soon realize that the cost of fame and fortune may be higher than they ever imagined.
Dreamgirls is being directed by Bill Condon from a screenplay he adapted from the stage musical’‘s original book by Tom Eyen. An Academy Award® winner for his screenplay for Gods and Monsters, which he also directed, Condon received another Oscar® nomination for his screenplay adaptation of Chicago.
A co-production of DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, Dreamgirls is slated for a US release in December 2006 – 25 years to the day after its Broadway bow.
Producer Laurence Mark commented: “I saw Michael Bennett’s production of Dreamgirls on Broadway shortly after it opened, and it was an extraordinary, unforgettable experience. We’re hoping that the film honours the stage show while, at the same time, appropriately reinterprets it for the screen.
“The look of that show and the music of that show have stayed with me all these years – and so have its key themes, which seem to resonate even more strongly today.”