DREAMGIRLS is finally returning to Broadway- Page 5

[MB124]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:26am

ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Or maybe we just have reservations about her handling the material, based on her résumé…?

[MB124]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:30am

Updated On: 10/24/25 at 10:30 AM

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:52am

ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Right, let’s be real, anything Camille does to this show will be a thousand times better than that travesty that was directed by Casey Nicholaw. Female directors, especially of color, often do not get a fair shot when compared to their male counterparts. 

[ER765]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:55am

Call_me_jorge said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Right, let’s be real, anything Camille does to this show will be a thousand times better than that travesty that was directed by Casey Nicholaw. Female directors, especially of color, often do not get a fair shot when compared to their male counterparts."

Well, yes of course - but Nicholaw has nothing to do with this production… (thankfully)

For me, this has absolutely nothing to do with her being a woman or a POC. It has to do with her efforts I’ve seen thus far, most of which I’ve been underwhelmed by. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:55am

MB124 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Or maybe we just have reservations about her handling the material, based on her résumé…?"

She has 5 Tony nominations, it’s not like this is her first gig out of college. Yes, this would be her first time helming a large scale production, but also… so? She would not be the first to take a leap from another path into the directing chair of a large show.

[ER765]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 10:57am

Updated On: 10/24/25 at 10:57 AM

[MB124]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 11:00am

Kad said: "MB124 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Or maybe we just have reservations about her handling the material, based on her résumé…?"

She has 5 Tony nominations, it’s not like this is her first gig out of college. Yes, this would be her first time helming a large scale production, but also… so? She would not be the first to take a leap from another path into the directing chair of a large show."

As we all know, Tony nominations do not always correlate to great (or even good) work. And we’re all entitled to our opinions. I am just sharing mine. Which has nothing to do with her sex or race. 

I don’t “hate” her. 🙄 

I hope she surprises me. 

Updated On: 10/24/25 at 11:00 AM

[east side story]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 11:23am

If Brown’s re-working some of the material here the way she did in AUDRAGYPSY, woof. 

[Kad]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 11:29am

MB124 said: "Kad said: "MB124 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Or maybe we just have reservations about her handling the material, based on her résumé…?"

She has 5 Tony nominations, it’s not like this is her first gig out of college. Yes, this would be her first time helming a large scale production, but also…so? She would not be the first to take a leap from another path into the directing chair of a large show."

As we all know, Tony nominations do not always correlate to great (or even good) work. And we’re all entitled to our opinions. I am just sharing mine. Which has nothing to do with her sex or race.

I don’t “hate” her. 🙄

I hope she surprises me."

I did not mention her sex or race, though it has become a recurring pattern for ascendant female directors to be subject to far harsher critique on this board than their male counterparts and to have their failures and missteps weighed more heavily. 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 11:40am

I'm going to be that person and take a guess that maybe LaChanze hoped to get Celia Rose Gooding cast in the revival and other producers have different actors in mind. LaChanze is an iconic Broadway performer but given how much nepotism is in this industry, maybe it isn't such a wild guess why she dropped out as a producer.

[BoringBoredBoard40]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 12:48pm

I think a bigger flag is Lachanze was also in the 1987 revival of this show, so you don't just have a producer of color with four TONY awards as a producer walking away from just any show, but a revival of a show she was actually in

Updated On: 10/24/25 at 12:48 PM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 1:09pm

MB124 said: "ColorTheHours048 said: "How did we pivot from “LaChanze is backing out as a producer” to “Camille A. Brown is the problem”? Some of you really want to hate this woman so badly, it’s kind of disturbing."

Or maybe we just have reservations about her handling the material, based on her résumé…?"

Maybe. But something tells me we wouldn’t be having the same discussion if, for example, Joshua Bergasse was announced to be directing a new revival of a musical. Just a hunch I have.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 1:36pm

If there’s one thing this board is going to do, it’s overthink a situation. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 1:41pm

gibsons2 said: "I'm going to be that person and take a guess that maybe LaChanze hoped to get Celia Rose Gooding cast in the revival and other producers have different actors in mind. LaChanze is an iconic Broadway performer but given how much nepotism is in this industry, maybe it isn't such a wild guess why she dropped out as a producer."

I'm going to be that person and speculate wildly about something I know nothing about whatsoever, smearing a bunch of people for no good reason other than my own boredom. 

 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 2:26pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "gibsons2 said: "I'm going to be that person and take a guess that maybe LaChanze hoped to get Celia Rose Gooding cast in the revival and other producers have different actors in mind. LaChanze is an iconic Broadway performer but given how much nepotism is in this industry, maybe it isn't such a wild guess why she dropped out as a producer."

I'm going to be that person and speculate wildly about something I know nothing about whatsoever, smearing a bunch of people for no good reason other than my own boredom.

"

I never claimed I know anything about the reasons LaChanze dropped out, which I stated in my post. Given that there's basically same set of actors shifting from one Broadway musical to another, it's a fair game to assume nepotism issues. Smearing? Far from it. As they say, if the shoe fits...

[JSquared2]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 3:41pm

gibsons2 said: "I'm going to be that person and take a guess that maybe LaChanze hoped to get Celia Rose Gooding cast in the revival and other producers have different actors in mind. LaChanze is an iconic Broadway performer but given how much nepotism is in this industry, maybe it isn't such a wild guess why she dropped out as a producer."

 

As Honest Abe once said,  "It's usually better to remain silent and thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt."

 

 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 3:58pm

gibsons2 said: "PipingHotPiccolo said: "gibsons2 said: "I'm going to be that person and take a guess that maybe LaChanze hoped to get Celia Rose Gooding cast in the revival and other producers have different actors in mind. LaChanze is an iconic Broadway performer but given how much nepotism is in this industry, maybe it isn't such a wild guess why she dropped out as a producer."

I'm going to be that person and speculate wildly about something I know nothing about whatsoever, smearing a bunch of people for no good reason other than my own boredom.

"

I never claimed I know anything about the reasons LaChanze dropped out, which I stated in my post. Given that there's basically same set of actors shiftingfrom one Broadway musical to another, it's a fair game to assume nepotism issues. Smearing? Far from it. As they say, if the shoe fits..."

ah, the double down.

no, it is not "fair game" to invent potential scenarios and spit them out into the universe based on your pea brained "guesses" about what might be going on behind the scenes. and yes suggesting that LaChanze expected and demanded that her daughter be cast in the show she was producing (and then stormed away from the show in a huff when her demands werent met) is a smear--well it would be if anyone actually took it seriously. 

[THDavis]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 4:11pm

I enjoy how someone’s self-proclaimed speculation has turned into a supposed smear campaign against the person in question. I didn’t read any hate or judgement with this speculation - speculation is open for the reader to buy into or not buy into. I don’t buy into it - perhaps you could do the same and move along instead of creating faux outrage policing how others speculate. The only people attaching negativity to it are the ones supposedly defending LaChanze which… she’s a grown person and well beyond needing random theatre queens on a Broadway message board to feign their outrage. 
 

Save your energy for the real enemies. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 7:12pm

ive got plenty of energy. gibson is free to spew gossipy nonsense plucked from thin air, and speculate without a scintilla of evidence, about whatever they want. and i think we are free to call it out when we see it. thats how this works.

youll forgive me if given the state of our country, i have little patience for conspiracy theory garbage, the truest sign of a dim person trying to feel smart. 

[gibsons2]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 8:33pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "ive got plenty of energy. gibson is free to spew gossipy nonsense plucked from thin air, and speculate without a scintilla of evidence, about whatever they want. and i think we are free to call it out when we see it. thats how this works.

youll forgive me if given the state of our country, i have little patience for conspiracy theory garbage, the truest sign of a dim person trying to feel smart."

Before you get your eyeball vein popped from fake outrage over my post, maybe try to read it more carefully,  where I was just guessing and nothing beyond it. Meanwhile, I hope the Dreamgirls cast will be someone we haven't heard of yet, a new talent. Not someone's boyfriend,  lover, daughter,  friend, who just keeps hopping from a flop to flop. Why were offended by my guess that nepotism could be involved, but not the rampant Broadway nepotism itself? I won't expect an answer. Regards.

[THDavis]

Posted: 10/24/25 at 9:00pm

Given the state of our country I think we all need to learn to choose our battles better, but go off. 

Updated On: 10/24/25 at 09:00 PM

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/25/25 at 10:51am

i just looked, because i thought maybe i missed something, but Celia Gooding was in Jagged Little Pill, and then...nothing? She's appeared in precisely zero of the productions her mother has worked on, am I getting that math right? So in your crusade against the scourge of nepotism, she and LaChanze fit in how exactly? 

prior to yesterday i had a barely passing interest in this woman and her career, but this stupidity has turned me into a fan. shes producing Ariel Stachel's show off broadway right now actually, which i previously knew little about

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 10/26/25 at 3:22pm

I mean, isn't becoming someone's fan in retaliation against an online strangers post (rather than, you know, on the merits of their talent) sort of on the same level as the original post? For what it's worth, Gibson didn't accuse LaChanze of always casting her daughter, only speculated that they think nepotism is rife on Broadway and in this instance, she might have wanted to cast her daughter contray to the wishes of the other producers. I agree there isn't any credible there there, but isn't one reason people come here just to speculate and gossip. And is the reputation of LaChanze or Gooding actually hurt on the basis of an idle musing? I do feel like an overraction is going on here, even while thinking the OP was silly and irrelevent. 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 10/26/25 at 5:47pm

disagree with most of what Joevitus wrote but just to be clear-- youre suggesting that because I looked up Lachanze's credits and was impressed with what I saw, i have "become her fan in retaliation" to the ugly musings of gibson? This feels beneath you. 

Of course people can speculate about whatever they want, and others can then point out the baseless fantastical nature of those speculations. doesnt seem complicated to me but alas here we are, in this swamp.