Henry Krieger at dreamgirls last night

the composer of dreamgirls was in the audience last night at the Prince Music theatre in Philly. the show was amazing last night, probably the best performance so far. Henry loved the show, and afterward Albert Innaurato held a talkback with him. he said that the Prince's production was the "most heartfelt production" he has ever seen of the show. he also stated that this version tells the story of the girls the best out of the shows that he has witnessed. He is a very meek, nice and soft-spoken man, and I felt so blessed to be in the presence of a great songwriter. after the talkback, he took the cast up onstage for a private talk and told Nova Payton, the actress who plays Effie, that her version was the best acted he had ever seen. (yes, ladies and gentlemen, better than Ms. Holiday.) It was an amazing night, and I am so proud of the performers for doing such a wonderful job for one of the creators of the shows.

interesting note- Henry said that Nell Carter was supposed to be the original Effie, but just before workshops began, Nell got "Gimme a break" which took off, so she wasn't available to do it, and that's when they found Ms. Holiday.

for all you people in the tri-state area- come over to Philly to see this production!!! I just found out today that we are once again extending into late February, so there are plenty of chances left!!!
dreamgirls @ the prince.

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"He also said that James "thunder" Early's character dies of an overdose after Curtis fires him, so when Effie sings "I miss you old friend" there is a greater subtext for the song."

How does Effie singing "I Miss You Old Friend" to C.C. White in any way relate to Jimmy Early's death?

I believe they may be changing who the song is sung to, or she will be simply recording it in remembrance of Jimmy. All I know is that Henry said that Jimmy's death will have an effect on that song.

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You know, if all goes well in filming, this could be THE career-defining role for Eddie Murphy.

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"You know, if all goes well in filming, this could be THE career-defining role for Eddie Murphy."

Eddie will always be Buckwheat to me.

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I was at the show on Tuesday with some people from my church and I heard from some money person that was at some reception with the writer that the show was being extended for another 6 weeks!!!! They are capitalizing on this production honey! The composer loved it and I there may be a limited run at some casino down in Atlantic City based on the Prince's production. It's gonna be a DREAMGIRLS year y'all....and about time that the younger generation knows the show truly. That concert was great but the people were all wrong...now people will hear that Motown sound. Congrats the the theater and creators. GO SEE THE SHOW!

I think it's great that the Prince has (finally) a success on their hands with this show, but I don't think it's at all surprising that they are extending the run. The Prince only seats 450 people. If they sell out 8 shows a week for 12 weeks that means roughly 42,300 will have seen the show. To put things in perspective this is still less than the number of people who see "Wicked" or "Spamalot" in 3 weeks time. It's also less than 1% of the entire Philly Metro area population. Let's try to keep some perspective.

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Updated On: 1/13/06 at 03:21 PM

Another extension, how exciting for the Prince! "And I'm Telling You...I smell a Barrymore"...said it when I covered Arden's Sweeny Todd and saying it now.

One of my clients, Renee Chambers is in this production and she is having a ball.

Congrats. to the entire staff...Ride that wave all the way to the shore!

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