Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#0Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:39pmFor those of you who saw the orignal production of Dreamgirls, can you explain what you experienced during Holliday (or whatever Effie you saw) 's performance of AND I AM TELLING YOU...? I think I remember hearing the reaction was incredible.
GovernorSlaton
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/14/04
#1re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:56pm
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=677131#1711113
Margo's post, toward the middle of the page.
#2re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:56pmwell the reaction is part due to her, and the rest goes to the brilliant chill inducing staging.
#3re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:57pm
If you scroll down a little, you'll see Margo's amazing retelling of the audience's reaction when Jenniffer Holliday did this number back in the 80s. I have always been immensely touched by Margo's story of this event, it only emphasizes that nothing can compare to the magic of the stage, nothing!
BroadwayGirl107
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/26/03
#4re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 9:08pm
That sounds like a bunch of teenagers at an Idina Menzel concert.
No. NSYNC in their prime.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#6re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 10:20pm
All of a sudden, I am SOOOOOOOOOOO excited for this movie!
Another year to go...
Chanticleer148
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/22/05
#7re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 11:22pm
This is a wonderful question!
I saw Roz Ryan perform the role of Effie Melody White in August, 1984 in the front row at The Imperial. I still remember that seat every time I go into The Imperial.
Roz's performance was compelling. People applauded several times during the number, but when the time came for her to finish the aria and be pulled upstage, nearly everyone was one their feet. People stomped the floor with their feet, and in the mezzanine, they were yelling for Roz! It was the most house-quaking moment I have ever experienced in twenty years of attending Broadway shows.
I am certain that this is the level of thrill that Ethel Merman's audiences must have felt when they saw the legend come down the asile at Gypsy or down the stairs in Hello Dolly.
Great Discusssion starter.
Who is playing Effie in the movie?
I wish that we could see Lillias White perform Effie live in New York!
Let's Name A Theater For Ethel Merman
#8re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/30/05 at 11:32pmJennifer Hudson from American Idol fame is doing Effie in the movie, I just hope she acts the hell out of the song instead of singing the hell out of the song if you guys know what I mean.
timote316
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
#9re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 12:00amI keep reading about how Bennett's staging was so amazing and all that, specifically in this number. Could someone explain to me the staging of this number (here or PM)? Thanks!
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#10re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 4:21pmI saw Jennifer Holliday as Effie in Atlanta in 2002. People went nuts during "And I Am Telling You..." Folks were screaming, crying, fanning themselves, etc. My favorite was a man a few rows back who kept calling out "You better sing! You better sing!
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#11re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 4:23pmIt's delivered to Curtis until he walks out (right before the "Tear down the mountains part," I believe). She finishes the song mostly towards the audience. On her final "me" the platform she was on was whisked upstage as a curtain descended and the Dreams marched out in front of her, performing "Love, Love You, Baby" in Vegas.
iliketheater
Broadway Star Joined: 12/10/05
#12re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 4:33pm
DEAR GOD!!! i wish i had been alive for this moment in theater... they need to bring that show & the wiz back!
... just for me 
Kringas
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/27/05
#13re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 4:34pmI'm anxiously awaiting the St Louis Black Rep's production in the spring.
Unknown User
Joined: 12/31/69
#14re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 7:49pm
Jennifer Holiday's performance was.....RIVETING!
and irreplaceable!!!
it was a defenite theatre moment.
and people would give standing O's after that song...a rarity on broadway.
especially nowadays..
lvpblues
Broadway Star Joined: 2/18/04
#15re: Audience's reaction to 'AND I AM TELLING YOU...'
Posted: 12/31/05 at 10:44pm
If only we could get the Tony clip on an upcoming Lost Treasures. It's about, I want to say 9 or 10 minutes long , including the scene leading up to "And I'm Telling You..." (I could be off with the timing, but it is quite extensive). Though I never had the privilege of seeing her perform the number live, I can say that her powerhouse had me exhausted by the end (in a good way). A cathartic moment and like it was said earlier, brilliantly staged.
Updated On: 12/31/05 at 10:44 PM
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