Dreamgirls opened on Broadway on December 20, 1981 at Imperial Theater. This musical is about a female singing trio from Chicago who travel to New York to sing in a talent contest. Even though they lose the contest, they find a manager who finds them a job as backup singers for James “Thunder” Early. The singing trio is first called the “Dreamettes,” but then gain more popularity and are known as the Dreams. Dreamgirls is a show within a show. It is a musical, later made into a movie, that involved a lot of time, money and energy to produce, but that has contributed to its popularity and success today.
All of the music in Dreamgirls is from the ‘60’s even though the musical itself was produced in the ‘80’s. Jennifer Holiday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine, the original Dreams, sound similar to the Supremes. All three women have extreme musical talent. This is heard through the variety of songs they sing in their show. They all have wide ranges in their voices, which are heard by the disjunct and conjunct melodies they sing. For example, Jennifer Holiday has a gospel style voice; she goes from a rasping, low “moan to a rich contralto to a high, clear soprano” (Wilson 1). The incredible musical talent of the Dreams stays consistent through the different transformations of this musical. In the movie that came out in 2006, Jennifer Hudson, Beyoncé Knowles and Anika Noni Ross display similar musical talent; all of the songs in the musical were included in the movie. However, more songs were added to the movie. The themes also did not change from the different renditions. For example, the three main characters are black in the movie as well as the musical. The storyline and the messages that come out if it are the same. Race is a central theme in the show. Three Black women break the color barrier because their records hit the top of the charts (Wilson 1). They transition f rom rhythm and blues to pop music; they develop their own sound and style.
Despite the extreme musical talent of the main characters, it is argues that the real stars of Dreamgirls are Mr. Bennett and his designers (Wilson 1). Michael Bennett was the director and choreographer for Dreamgirls. He made the show have tremendous energy as the audience was guided through the musical styles of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s (Wilson 1). In some numbers, visual images and movement illustrate meaning. For example, in “Steppin’ to the Bad Side,” Curtis and his colleagues think that in order to succeed in the record business, they need to step into the bad side. This scene begins will four men moving rhythmically. Then the men are in business suits and felt hats passing records back and forth. There are two bridges in this scene; this is where men in business suits stand against a lighted background. This signifies that Curtis and his friends have entered the music business (Wilson 1). These bridges are an important part of the set. Robin Wagner, the set designer, “created sections of pipe scaffolding filled with lights, three bridges that rise and fall, and four vertical towers that move back and forth across the stage, twisting and turning” (Wilson 1). Mr. Wagner added beaded curtains, satin drops and illuminated stairways to his scaffolding. This created a night club setting for the Dreamgirls. In addition to the scenery, the lighting is impressive. In different scenes, the lights have to crisscross across the stage; this is done smoothly and with grace (Wilson 1). Furthermore, the costumes are quite elaborate. The Dreamgirls dress in gowns decorated with sequins and satins. They also wear pink, lavender and emerald green feathered boas. For the finale, the girls are dressed in long white dresses covered in sequence
Dreamgirls was undoubtedly and expensive musical to produce. The set, including five two story tours of aluminum scaffolding and 5,000 lbs. bridges, involved a lot of time and money to create. This show consisted of 25 separate motorized backdrops and sets. It also consisted of 300 dazzling costumes, 86 wigs, and 96 microphones. Dreamgirls’ budget was $3.5million; this is a record for any Broadway show. Its operating cost was $23,000 per week, which is close to setting another record (Saltzman 1). In addition to the many elaborate costumes and sets, the show had sophisticated computerized lighting. Tharon Musser, the lighting designer for the show, introduced Broadway to a programmed memory board. This meant that all the technician had to do was press a button and a sequence of lights would turn on. This was definitely needed because Dreamgirls had about 650 lights and 240 different lighting changes (Saltzman 2).
In addition to the high expenses of the show, it also took a long time to produce. Cleavant Derricks dedicated two years to working on the show before it opened on Broadway in 1981. For those two years, Dreamgirls was being “developed in a series of workshops on lower Broadway (Lawson 1). This musical took so long to produce that some people working on it were starting to lose hope, specifically Cleavant Derricks and Michael Bennett, the director. At one point, Mr. Derricks wanted to leave because they were having problems with Act II and he was tired of working on the show. Similarly, Mr. Bennett got discouraged and wanted to quit, and in fact, he did for 10 days. He had three or four different subplots going on and was trying to tell the story of eight or 10 people; it did not seem possible. In addition, Jennifer Holliday was on the verge of quitting because of the heavy work load. However, it all came together with Derricks, Holliday and Bennett back on track, and the show debuted on Broadway in 1981.
All of the hard work that went into producing Dreamgirls paid off. It won six Tony Awards and is “Broadway’s most daring feat of technology ever” (Saltzman 1). Even though it is a musical from the ‘80’s, is still popular today because it was made into a movie in 2006.
Works Cited:
Lawson, Carol. ”‘Dreamgirls’ Was His Dream.” New York Times 4 April 1982.
Saltzman, Cynthia. “Musical ‘Dreamgirls’ Can Be a Nightmare For Backstage Crew.” The Wall Street Journal 8 June 1982.
Wilson, Edwin. “‘Dreamgirls’: The Sequined Road to Money and Fame.” The Wall Street Journal. 23 Dec. 1981.
