Jennifer Hudson Joins Producing Team for Broadway Dreamgirls Revival

Not only is she not going—she's back! Stage and screen star Jennifer Hudson has joined the producing team for Broadway's upcoming Dreamgirls revival. She joins a team led by Sonia Friedman Productions, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson.

Hudson first rose to prominence as a contestant on the reality competition series American Idol, taking her career to another level when she starred as the "And I Am Telling You (I'm Not Going)"-singing Effie White in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls. She won an Oscar for her performance, and has since won a Grammy, in 2009 for her self-named R&B album; an Emmy, in 2021 for Baba Yaga; and a Tony Award, as a producer of 2002 Best Musical winner A Strange Loop, putting her in the much-coveted EGOT status. She won another Grammy in 2017 for the Broadway revival cast album of The Color Purple. Hudson starred as Shug Avery in the John Doyle-directed staging, which served as her Broadway performing debut. Dreamgirls will be Hudson's third Broadway producing credit, following A Strange Loop and 2025's SMASH.

“Twenty years ago, my life changed forever because of a film called Dreamgirls," says Hudson in a statement. "Inspired by the iconic stage musical, I was given the opportunity of a lifetime to portray the one and only Effie White—a woman whose story and voice remain an ever-present force in my life. I am beyond honored to join the extraordinary producing team behind this special, newly reimagined Broadway revival, and to help bring Dreamgirls back to the stage through the visionary direction and choreography of Camille A. Brown. This fall cannot come soon enough."

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.

The upcoming revival, poised to begin in the fall with dates and casting to be announced, will be directed and choreographed by five-time Tony nominee Camille A. Brown, making it the first Broadway Dreamgirls 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.

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 Hudson an Academy Award for her performance as Effie. Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, and Jamie Foxx co-starred.

Visit DreamgirlsBway.com.