Broadway Monday

Dreamgirls Based upon the show business aspirations and successes of R&B acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, Dreamgirls follows the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago called "The Dreams", who become music superstars.

This show was famously made into a movie in 2006 starring Beyonce and yielding an Oscar for Jennifer Hudson who played the role of Effie White. I am of the belief that although Hudson did a spectacular job, she patterned her performance after the stunning, and career defining performance of Jennifer Holiday who brought Effie to life on Broadway for the entire three-year run.

The video is grainy(1982), but it's not hard to see, and hear, the emotion Jennifer Holiday brought to the stage every single night! Every time I watch this I am covered in chill bumps and tears fill my eyes for someone so full of passion and life. No doubt why she won a Tony.


Dreamgirls premiered December 20, 1981 and ran for 1522 performances garnering 6 Tony Awards including Best Book, Best Actress, Actor, Choreography, and Lighting. Even though this is one of the most famous and successful shows in Broadway history, I am hard pressed to find any photos of the original cast so I apologize for the lack of eye candy! I hope the spectacular video made up for it!