DREAMGIRLS is finally returning to Broadway — Page 3

Samantha Williams will surely be considered. Brennyn Lark as well.

This board doesn’t seem to like any black female director.


The show seems to be in need of two Effie’s.


I agree that all the Dreams should be dark-skinned.


And I agree that the show should be closer to the original stage production rather than the movie.

Updated On: 9/15/25 at 11:07 PM

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I don’t understand the Camille Brown hatred. If you’re skeptical because she’s never directed anything remotely this big, that would be one thing, but dismissal right off the bat just feels like racism.

Yes, her GYPSY choreo was bad, but a lot of her other work has been great. GYPSY was also stylistically so different than the more contemporary workshe usually does…it never felt like a natural fit to me.

Maybe Dreamgirls is one of those shows where purists will never be pleased with anything but the Michael Bennett staging."



So that is your opinion.

It has nothing to do with racism. Stop trying to stir the pot. There are people who just don't care for her work/style.

Just not Alex Newell.

Being able to sing one song doesn't mean you can get the entire score, plus acting, under your belt.

I don't see Newell being able to really sell me as Effie White.

And then there's Newell's reliability issues in shows.

Updated On: 9/16/25 at 06:22 AM

Unlike ACL where it’s impossible to separate Bennett’s work from the show, I think Dreamgirls can be done without slavish adherence to the original. And while Brown can certainly bring a different perspective, she is no Michael Bennett. I didn’t see the London production and don’t know who staged it but how close was it to Bennett’s staging? Radical changes - like having a set that doesn’t perspective shift — will slow down the momentum. I’m really skeptical (if Gypsy is an indication of her work) of her ability to create gasp inducing moments of which there were many in the original production.

Updated On: 9/16/25 at 06:28 AM

ColorTheHours048 said: "Dreamboy3 said: "I’m really skeptical (if Gypsy is an indication of her work) of her ability to create gasp inducing moments of which there were many in the original production. "

Camille A. Brown only choreographed Gypsy, so I hardly think she’s to blame for its relatively paint-by-numbers direction. I didn’t get the chance to see it, but by many accounts, her production of for colored girls… that she helmed in its transfer to Broadway was excellent. The reviews at the Public were mixed, but the Broadway reviews (after she took the directing reigns and approached it fresh) were great."

This. I maintain that she should have won a Tony for her choreography of for colored girls... instead of Wheeldon winning for MJ.

I don't think the Bennett staging needs to be/should be duplicated. His staging was electric because of what was available to him at the time - those moving light standards to create movie wipes and keep the show in constant motion. That was new and novel (and, as I recall, very very expensive) The set had to be empty so those standards could move about on their own. But, technology has moved on and improved since the 1980s (I saw it in 1983) - those concepts can likely be achieved without the moving light standards. I wonder if Bennett would have used screens/projections if those had been available to him. (Note: I didn't see the more recent London version and I do not know how that one was staged)

ColorTheHours048 said: "And, for what it’s worth, Bennett wasn’t always Bennett. Someone had to trust him to leap from choreographer to director at some point, and Brown is on a very similar trajectory from a purely resume-focused standpoint: high-profile choreographer credits, leading to co-directing, leading to directing.

Personally, I find her work singular and thrilling to watch, not to mention that her experience as a Black woman in the industry uniquely positions her to approach it with fresh eyes that Bennett and Casey Nicholaw simply did not and do not have."

Bennett’s work before he became a director — going back to Henry Sweet Henry — was always called out for being better than the show around it. My experience has been that this was not true about Brown’s work whether in Gypsy or any of her other work that I have seen (and i have seen a lot though I did not see For Colored Girls). I agree with the point in your second paragraph and I hope she surprises me in a positive way!

I've been waiting on bated breath for decades for a Broadway revival and now that it has been announced I am....

Underwhelmed.

BenjaminNicholas2 said: "Just not Alex Newell.

Being able to sing one song doesn't mean you can get the entire score, plus acting, under your belt.

I don't see Newell being able to really sell me as Effie White.

And then there's Newell's reliability issues in shows."



Thank you agree NO Alex!

BorisTomashevsky said: "Samantha Williams will surely be considered. Brennyn Lark as well."



She was terrible in Pirates. Charmless.