Five-time Tony nominee Camille A. Brown will direct and choreograph a Broadway revival of Dreamgirls, with performances slated to begin in fall 2026. Dates and a theatre are to be announced.
The staging will be the first on the Main Stem to be newly directed and choreographed. Michael Bennett staged the original 1981 production, which returned to Broadway via a national tour in 1987. A 2016 West End revival, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw, had been expected to make a Broadway transfer, but that never materialized despite multiple casting calls.
Featuring music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and a book by Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls follows the show business story of a Black '60s girl group, somewhat modeled on The Supremes, The Shirelles, and others. The original production made a star and a Tony winner of Jennifer Holliday as Effie, whose "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going) " and "I Am Changing" became two of the few crossover hits from the Broadway of the 1980s. Among Holliday's original co-stars were Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, and Obba Babatundé.
A 2001 Actors Fund benefit concert starred Audra McDonald, Lillias White, Heather Headley, Billy Porter, and Norm Lewis. A film adaptation was released in 2006, quickly becoming an audience favorite and winning Jennifer Hudson an Academy Award for her performance as Effie. Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, and Jamie Foxx co-starred.
The revival, being produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and LaChanze Productions, will hold international open calls to cast its Dreams. According to press notes, producers are looking for "talented women of all shapes and sizes," and will hold auditions in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, London, Toronto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris.
Visit DreamgirlsBway.com.
