DREAMGIRLS is finally returning to Broadway- Page 3

[Jarethan]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 6:10pm

The8re phan said: "witchoftheeast2 said: "The8re phan said: "sorry, but attendance issues aside, Alex Newell has earned this role and would absolutely bring down the house whenever they go on as Effie. Just asI have earned being in the audience multiple times whenever they do so........"

Something I hope other people realize is that people can say no to a role. So you can think they are perfect, and will be perfect, but it ultimately comes down to so many factors that we aren't privy to. It may be scheduling, it may be contract negotiations, it could be that they simply don't want to do the role. So I hope people won't bully those who are cast if it's not Amber Riley or Alex Newell because you can not say how good they are or will be until you sit in that theater and see them in the role.."

Please let me clarify --- i wasn't bashing or putting down anyone in contention for this plumrole of a long-awaited revival. I was only responding to several posts before mine to say I hope thatAlex Newell's'attendance issues' (which were in fact due to a serious medical condition during the last monthof Shucked....), areNOT being held against them from being considered for this role."

Alex's attendance problems started long before the last month.  Were I an investor, I would make it a stipulation that Alex NOT be hired because of supreme undependability.  With all the talent out there, why should they give it to someone who is doing the audience a favor by showing up.

[Kad]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 6:34pm

Didn’t Newell also frequently call out of Once on This Island as the run progressed? And that role was even less of a lift than Shucked. 
 

Regardless, it seems likely that less established names will be sought for this. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 10:33pm

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

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 10:42pm

Kad said: "Didn’t Newell also frequently call out of Once on This Island as the run progressed? And that role was even less of a lift than Shucked.
 

I saw “Island” six times and never once saw Newell in the role. 

[Jeremiah]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 11:07pm

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]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 11:15pm

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 work she 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.

[uncageg]

Posted: 9/15/25 at 11:22pm

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. 

 

[CoffeeBreak]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 1:14am

& lack of directorial experience 

[BenjaminNicholas2]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 1:25am

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.

[Angel of Harlem]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 6:21am

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."

 

I think they’d be great but far too old.

lot of talk for Amber Riley but she was so unreliable and hardly a dream team mate 

 

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 6:22am

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

[Sammy232]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 6:24am

P3PP3R said: "Up there with Alex Newell and Amber Riley, I would love to see Tiffany Mann get her flowers for this."

yes to Tiffany Mann!!!!

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 6:28am

 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]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 7:34am

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.

Updated On: 9/16/25 at 07:34 AM

[bjh2114]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 7:54am

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. 

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 9:13am

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.

[ggersten]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 9:50am

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)

 

[Elspeth3]

Posted: 9/16/25 at 11:51am

P3PP3R said: "Up there with Alex Newell and Amber Riley, I would love to see Tiffany Mann get her flowers for this."

Tiffany Mann was astounding in the role at The Muny. I'd love that.

[Dreamboy3]

Posted: 9/17/25 at 8:48am

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!

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 9/17/25 at 9:41am

These comparisons to Bennett are exhausting and reductive.

Her work doesn’t need to be “better than the show around it” to be great. She doesn’t need to be the impactful visionary that he was of his time. “She is no Michael Bennett” No sh*t. She’s not trying to be one. She is being Camille A. Brown. 

These are two different people, with different personal and professional experiences, in completely different periods of time. Expecting her to do & be everything that he did & was is only setting yourself up for disappointment.

However, that’s clearly what you’re hoping for in the first place. I mean, you yourself said that you’re skeptical of her directing capabilities because you didn’t like her choreography. A mind is like a parachute, it doesn’t work if it is not open. 

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 9/17/25 at 2:29pm

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

Underwhelmed.

 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 9/17/25 at 2:33pm

"The8re phan said: "sorry, but attendance issues aside, Alex Newell has earned this role and would absolutely bring down the house whenever they go on as Effie.

Attendance is pretty important, especially if people are coming to see you. I hope they cast Marisha or completely unknown talent, which could be really exciting. And I'm just curious, how did Alex earn this role? 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/20/25 at 12:45am

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! 

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/20/25 at 12:46am

Marisha Wallace as Effie will be her time to shine and star on Broadway!

[Robbie2]

Posted: 9/20/25 at 12:55am

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

 

She was terrible in Pirates. Charmless.