Dreamgirls Trailer
Agnella Datson
"Dreamgirls," a co-production of DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures that is set to hit movie theatres Dec. 21, stars Jennifer Hudson as Effie, Beyonc Knowles as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, Jamie Fox as Curtis Taylor Jr., Eddie Murphy as James "Thunder Early" and Danny Glover as Marty. Director Bill Condon also wrote the film's screenplay based on the late Tom Eyen's book. The film employs most of the original score by Eyen and Henry Krieger as well as four new tunes.
The musical Dreamgirls, which concerns the rise of a Supremes-like singing group amid a flurry of infighting, began previews at Broadway's Imperial Theatre on Dec. 9, 1981 and officially opened Dec. 20, playing 1,521 performances before closing Aug. 11, 1985. The original cast featured Obba Babatund, Cleavant Derricks, Loretta Devine, Ben Harney, Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Deborah Burrell. The show lost the Tony for Best Musical to Maury Yeston's Nine. A 1987 revival at the Ambassador Theatre starred Lillias White, Alisa Gyse, Kevyn Morrow, Weyman Thompson and Arnetia Walker.
Dreamgirls song titles include "One Night Only," "I Am Changing," "When I First Saw You," "Family" and Effie's first-act show stopper, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going." Visit www.dreamgirls.dreamworks.com for more information.
First with the Supremes and then as a solo artist, Diana Ross is one of those rare entertainers who has shaped American pop culture. With her string of No. 1 hits, confidence and cutting-edge fashion sense, Diana Ross and the Supremes became the biggest and most successful American female group of the 1960s. Ross then stepped into the limelight on her own with a string of smash solo hits, not to mention her triumphs on the silver screen. With her searing portrayal of Billie Holiday in \"Lady Sings the Blues,\" Ross garnered an Oscar nomination for Best Actress.
Now Ross is back in the headlines, though indirectly, thanks to the hit movie \"Dreamgirls,\" which has been called a thinly veiled history of the Supremes. One of the film's stars, Beyonce, acknowledged she had a shrine to Ross in her trailer, and watched her movies to prepare for the role. Ross said to ABC News' Diane Sawyer on \"Good Morning America\" that she has not seen the movie yet. \"Maybe I should go see it with my lawyer,\" she joked. Ross has refused to comment on the movie, but today she said she was \"happy\" for the cast.
\"I've only heard what everybody else says, that it's very much my image and likeness,\" she said. \"So if I've had an opportunity to influence any of these beautiful, talented young people, then I'm excited about it.\"
Secrets to Longevity in Show Business \"I Love You,\" Ross's first studio album in seven years, comes out today. The album is a collection of classic love songs, including \"Lovely Day,\" \"More Today Than Yesterday\" and \"The Look of Love.\"
Dreamgirls is a 2006 American musical drama film written and directed by Bill Condon and jointly produced and released by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, Dreamgirls is a film clef, a work of fiction taking strong inspiration from the history of the Motown record label and its superstar act, The Supremes.[5] The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive.
The film adaptation features an ensemble cast, starring Jamie Foxx, Beyonc Knowles and Eddie Murphy with Jennifer Hudson, Danny Glover, Anika Noni Rose and Keith Robinson in supporting roles. In addition to the original compositions by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist Tom Eyen, four new songs, composed by Krieger with various lyricists, were added for the film.[6] The film marks the acting debut of Hudson, a former American Idol contestant.[5]
In 1962 Detroit, car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. meets a Black girl group called "The Dreamettes", consisting of lead singer Effie White and backup singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson, at an R&B amateur talent show at the Detroit Theatre. Presenting himself as their new manager, he hires them as backup singers for Chitlin' Circuit R&B star Jimmy "Thunder" Early. He soon starts his own record label, Rainbow Records, out of his Cadillac dealership, appointing Effie's brother C.C. as head songwriter. When their first single "Cadillac Car" underperforms after white pop group "Dave and the Sweethearts" releases a cover version, Curtis, C.C., and their producer Wayne turn to payola to make "Jimmy Early & The Dreamettes" mainstream pop stars, beginning with their follow-up single "Steppin' to the Bad Side". Offstage, Effie falls in love with Curtis while the married Jimmy does likewise with Lorrell.
Jimmy's manager, Marty Madison, grows weary of Curtis' plans to make his client more pop-friendly and walks out. When Jimmy bombs in front of an all-white Miami Beach supper club audience, Curtis sends him out on the road alone, keeping The Dreamettes (whom he renames "The Dreams") behind to headline in his place. Feeling that Effie's plus size figure and distinctive, soulful voice will not attract white audiences, he appoints the slimmer, more conventionally attractive Deena as the new lead singer, as Deena's voice, although more basic and generic, is more marketable.
Aided by new songs and a new image, Curtis and C.C. transform The Dreams into a top-selling mainstream pop group. By 1965, however, Effie begins acting out, particularly when Curtis' affections also turn towards Deena. He eventually drops Effie, hiring his secretary Michelle Morris to replace her, beginning with their 1966 New Year's Eve debut in Las Vegas as "Deena Jones & the Dreams". Though Effie defiantly and desperately appeals to Curtis, he, C.C., and The Dreams abandon her, forging ahead to stardom. Effie learns she is pregnant with his child, but conceals the news.
By 1973, Effie has become an impoverished single mother living on welfare in Detroit with her young daughter Magic. To restart her music career, she appoints Marty as her manager and begins performing at a local nightclub. Meanwhile, Deena Jones & the Dreams have become superstars and Rainbow, now headquartered in Los Angeles, has become the biggest pop label in the nation. Curtis, now Deena's husband, pitches a film about Cleopatra to feature her in the title role. However, Deena clandestinely hopes the film will never be greenlit, wanting to pursue other acting gigs.
The following year, Jimmy has descended into drug addiction due to both Curtis' preoccupation with Deena and his rejection of Jimmy's politically-charged charity single "Patience", written by C.C., that he recorded with Lorrell. During a televised special of Rainbow's tenth anniversary, Jimmy abandons his soulful act to do an impromptu rap, which excites the audience, until he goes too far and drops his pants. Embarrassed, Curtis promptly drops him from the label and Lorrell ends their affair. Sometime later, C.C., who feels Curtis is undermining his songs' artistic merit by making them into disco music, quits the label. Jimmy soon dies from a heroin overdose, devastating Lorrell, who is barred from his funeral.
Disillusioned by Curtis' cold reaction to Jimmy's death, C.C. reconciles with Effie in Detroit, writing and producing her comeback single, "One Night Only". Just as it begins gaining local radio play, Curtis uses payola to force radio stations to play The Dreams' disco cover of the song. The plan crumbles, however, as Deena, who has been increasingly frustrated over Curtis' control of her career, discovers his schemes and contacts Effie, who arrives in Los Angeles with C.C., Marty, and a lawyer. Deena and Effie reconcile, with Effie telling her that Curtis is Magic's father. He begrudgingly agrees to nationally distribute Effie's version of "One Night Only" to avoid being reported to the FBI. Inspired by Effie's victory and finally seeing Curtis for who he truly is, Deena leaves him, vowing to start over.
In 1975, The Dreams give a farewell performance at the Detroit Theater, inviting Effie onstage for the final song. Towards the end, Curtis approaches the front row, encounters Magic, and realizes she is his daughter.
In the 1980s and 1990s, several attempts were made to produce a film adaptation of Dreamgirls, a Broadway musical loosely based upon the story of The Supremes and Motown Records, which won six Tony Awards in 1982. David Geffen, the stage musical's co-financier, retained the film rights to Dreamgirls and turned down many offers to adapt the story for the screen. He cited a need to preserve the integrity of Dreamgirls stage director Michael Bennett's work after his death in 1987.[15] That same year, Geffen, who ran his Warner Bros.-associated Geffen Pictures film production company at the time, began talks with Broadway lyricist and producer Howard Ashman to adapt it as a star vehicle for Whitney Houston, who was to portray Deena. The production ran into problems when Houston wanted to sing both Deena and Effie's songs (particularly "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"), along with Ashman's death in 1991, and the film was eventually abandoned.[16]
When Geffen co-founded DreamWorks in 1994 and dissolved Geffen Pictures, the rights to Dreamgirls remained with Warner Bros. Warner planned to go ahead with the film with director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Tina Andrews[6] in the late 1990s, following the success of Touchstone Pictures's Tina Turner biopic What's Love Got to Do with It. Schumacher planned to have Lauryn Hill[17] portray Deena and Kelly Price play Effie. After Warner's Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love failed at the box office, the studio shut down development on Dreamgirls.[16]
Warner Bros. had retained the film rights to Dreamgirls, and agreed to co-produce with DreamWorks. However, after casting was completed, the film was budgeted at $73 million and Warner backed out of the production. Geffen, taking the role of co-producer, brought Paramount Pictures in to co-finance and release Dreamgirls. During the course of production, Paramount's parent company, Viacom, would purchase DreamWorks, aligning the two studios under one umbrella (and giving the senior studio US distribution rights on behalf of DreamWorks).[15] The completed film had a production budget of $75 million, making Dreamgirls the most expensive film with an all-black starring cast in cinema history.[3]
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