DREAMGIRLS heading back to Broadway...- Page 2

[me2]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 7:04pm

I was very excited to see Robert Longbottom was doing this. Just yesterday I was thinking about how fantastic his choreography was for "Fan Tan Fannie." I never saw the FLOWER DRUM SONG revival, but I did love that number when it was on the Today Show.
Broadway Mouth: High School Musicals, Part 1: The Most-Performed High School Musicals

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 7:20pm

Gwen Stewart for Effie, please? Thanks! I don't care if she's technically too old.

[BustopherPhantom]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 7:28pm

Wow, they must be REALLY confident about themselves to re-stage and re-choreograph this show.

[The Ghost of Kringas]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 7:28pm

Well, besty, people seemed to like the movie and that didn't have anything to do with Michael Bennett. I think the show could weather a different touch and still be worthwhile.

Husk, I know what you're saying, but I meant more like his hand in the creation of ACL.

[winter_sky]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 7:56pm

I don't think Gwen is right for Effie but I would love for her to be Motormouth Maybelle in Hairspray.

Patina Renea Miller for Deena or Effie, maybe. She was so out of this world amazing in HAIR. I also wish Saycon could be in the show somehow. Maybe Kenita Miller as Lorell.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 8:11pm

Rene Elise Goldsberry is Deena Jones

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 11:32pm

Actually, many people said that one of the problems with the film was that changing Bennett's iconic staging of the Dreams numbers removed a lot of the excitement from the numbers. Bennett's staging seemed to have been more cinematic than the choreography from the film.
Bennett had EVERYTHING to do with the creative process of DREAMGIRLS. And as Besty said it, it was his direction/choreography and pure brilliant mind that made it a hit (well, and Jennifer Holliday's legendary performance). Many critics actually argue that DREAMGIRLS is nothing without Bennett's staging.
I can't believe they are re-staging it.
Either way, I hope that Anika Noni Rose plays Deena Jones and I wouldn't mind seeing Syesha Mercados--from AMERICAN IDOL--as Lorrell.

[lakezurich]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 11:50pm

It's about damn time. I really am surprised it took this long after the film for a revival to happen.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 9/15/08 at 11:55pm

Lillias White is far too old to play Effie onstage again.

So, now that this is finally coming back, when they don't cast Jennifer Holliday as Effie, are we going to have to listen to her whine to whomever will listen about how she feels "slighted" she was not asked to play Effie?
Updated On: 9/16/08 at 11:55 PM

[broadwayboy101]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:05am

I honestly would like a "name" to play Effie...unknowns are perfectly fine with me for the other roles, but for some reason I want someone famous in the iconic role. If they got Jennifer Hudson to do it (I seriously doubt it, but just for the sake of argument), you know that would get TONS of butts in the seats.

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:22am

I saw the original Los Angeles production with Holiday and I must say it was pretty stunning...

...but...

About ten years ago? twelve? There was a recreation tour that was advertised as headed to Broadway... sadly, it it was stale as yesterday's bagels.

Every production of the show that I've seen is a water-down version of Bennett. I think DREAMGIRLS is solid enough piece to warrant a new approach. I'm not saying it will succeed, but I'm pretty convinced that if you simple remounted the original production you end with a still born baby.

How may of these "recreations" ACTUALLY succeed? They NEVER live up to the memory of the original and almost always leave you a little sad and nostalgic.

The original CABARET was BRILLIANT... so I'm told, but when Hal Prince re-created it in 1987 it was old hat and looked it.

Then of course, Sam Mendes comes along and POOF! it is entirely new show.. even if we've seen it before.

Bennett's work will ALWAYS be part of DREAMGIRLS.. you can't escape it, but it is when we become SLAVE to it, the show becomes a dead on arrival museum piece.

Updated On: 9/16/08 at 12:22 AM

[broadwaybelter]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:26am

This is certainly exciting. There are several significant factors that caused Dreamgirls to become such a success; a pivotal point was of course Bennet's legendary touch on that piece. Hopefully San Francisco will be part of the National Tour.

[best12bars]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 3:51am

I guess I should clarify my post, since I confused a few of you by comparing the loss of Bennett's staging to the loss (say) of the choreography from West Side Story.

The choreography itself (by Michael Peters and Michael Bennett) from Dreamgirls was great, but that wasn't the innovation of the original production. It was the staging/direction by Bennett.

The original Dreamgirls was staged to look like it was a movie unfolding in front of your eyes on stage. Bennett tried to make cinematic changes in "camera angle" and in POV, and everything was seamless. It all flowed together like an edited movie... not like your typical Broadway show.

The reviews at that time were quick to point this out and discuss it in great detail, and that's why the show garnered so much attention, aside from Jennifer Holliday's performance. It was all about the brilliant direction of Michael Bennett.

That said... I see BFB's point. We now HAVE a film version of Dreamgirls, and it's 25 years later. Many of those innovative "film techniques" on stage have been used in other shows, and they wouldn't be perceived as fresh as they were back then.

I just wish them luck. To think that you can take a genius's work and make it better takes a certain kind of insane hubris. But sure, go ahead and try... at the risk of millions of dollars and a whole lot of comparison to the original.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 9:18am

Oh Lord, we beseech thee, let this revival not suffer the same fate that hath befallen the revival of Godspell.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 9:51am

"And as Besty said it, it was his direction/choreography and pure brilliant mind that made it a hit (well, and Jennifer Holliday's legendary performance)."

Even Jennifer Holliday's legendary performance must be credited to Michael Bennett. Let's be honest, what Holliday had going for her was that she could belt to the back of the house. But her acting skills were dreadful. Part of the reason she succeeded in the role was that Bennett gave her line readings.

[The Ghost of Kringas]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 10:05am

Without taking anything away from Bennett, because his original staging WAS extraordinary, the seamless sort of cinematic quality is also inherent in the book and score. Whether it evolved that way along with Bennett's hand or not. I think the score is fantastic, the book compelling (and superior to the screenplay) and while I don't think a revival of it will automatically be a slam dunk, I still think with a good director and performers the material will still shine.

I don't understand this board sometimes (and this is a general comment, it's not directed at anyone specifically). People complain when revivals recreate things because they become musuem pieces, and then people complain when someone is going to take a new approach to material.

And Ray, what I thought was lacking from the movie wasn't so much Bennett's staging but the huge chunks of score that were slashed.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 11:18am

I know it's a matter of disagreement, but the Actors Fund Benefit concert of Dreamgirls - which I've basically only listened to on CD, and seen small video clips of - to me was extraordinary, and of course, it didn't have the Bennett staging. But that's a different format than doing it back on stage. I saw the original in '83 (I think), and Bennett's staging really was what made that show an experience, and I'm not certain it would have the same effect today.

So, let someone try to reimagine it and create a new experience - it might be good. It might be terrible. Of course, I can only wonder what it would be like if John Doyle staged it (that's a joke...I think).

[morosco]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:34pm

Bennett was the star of the original Dreamgirls. Credit also must be given to his "dream team" of designers (Robin Wagner, Tharon Musser, and Theoni V. Aldridge). Their contributions to the original production were nothing short of brilliant.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:39pm

Zzzzzzzz...

[Byron Abens]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 12:40pm

However, if you look at the style Robert Longbottom used in Side Show it was definitely influenced by Bennett's staging of Dreamgirls, with the bleachers standing in for the light towers, as several reviews noted.

It's very possible to integrate touches of the original staging into a new staging, retaining aspects of what made the show work without making it a museum piece. There are very few things more frustrating to most actors than doing a show where the "direction" consists of "let me look at the original prompt book and the Lincoln Center video. Ok, now you take two steps stage left, turn down stage, etc. etc."

[Gothampc]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 1:18pm

John Doyle staging of Dreamgirls

[Brick]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 2:36pm

EDIT:

I hope it isn't a restaging.
Updated On: 9/16/08 at 02:36 PM

[Insider2]

Posted: 9/16/08 at 5:43pm

To the person who suggested Lillias White as Effie, Ms. White is a fantastic talent, but she is 57 years old. I believe that is a bit up there for the role. But someone should write a show for her, that's for sure.