re: Jennifer Holliday strikes again — Page 4

"For us to be so much a part of theatrical history and then to be treated like we did nothing is heartbreaking"

"I don't take offense. It's just show business, baby. I wish them every success."



It looks like two sentences taken from what was most likely a longer interview -- I'd love to see her entire statement on the matter. The first one sounds more or less like what Holliday has been saying in several places. Perhaps, the second is a case of her catching herself and saying "good for them" so as not to sound bitter (plus she lives in LA and is much more PR savvy than Holliday). It wouldn't surprise me if she also felt a tinge of disappointment at not getting more attention in the midst of all of the movie hoopla.

While Ralph has worked steadily in the business for the last 25 years, she also has never reached the level of stardom I'm sure she hoped for given all of the buzz surrounding her, Holliday and the original cast back in 1981. She also released a couple of records that went nowhere, was featured in a few forgotten tv shows and has returned to Broadway (albeit in a Tony winner like MILLIE) with little fanfare. While she's definitely in a better place emotionally and career-wise than Holliday is these days, she also never became the star a lot of people (probably including herself) thought she'd be 25 years ago.

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Updated On: 12/12/06 at 04:48 PM

Sister Act 2 comes to mind, "there are plenty of artists out there singing their, coulda, woulda, shoulda's"... timeless.

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It all boils down for me to entitlement. She is not, nor has she ever been entitled to anything with Dreamgirls. The diva she believes herself to be is shocked when she doesn't get what she feels she deserves. But, only those who are greatful are deserving. And she has always failed to truly be that.

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The difference: Ross has tens of millions in the bank; Holliday has to perform at circuit parties at 3am just to pay her rent.

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There was absolutely no reason why the original stars of any Broadway production should be consulted about a film adaptation. Particularly one that was on Broadway 25 years ago. Absurd.

I DO think the media is egging Holliday on... because they know she's trying to stir the pot on the opening of this film now... and it's a BIG opening... and so they point their mics and pens at her and coax her into "telling the world how she feels."

Vultures. They found a pigeon who's willing to squawk. Someone who craves the spotlight and seeing her name regularly in the news.

Good for them. Bad for Holliday.

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Well, nope.

She made their job easy for them, didn't she?

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Well i will admit that before the Holiday interview, I had never heard one of Wendy Williams' radio shows, but I was suprised she did not challenge some of Ms. Holiday's points, particularly the whole "bait and switch" rant; obviously if Ms. Holliday chooses to hang herself, the media will give her some rope. I would be interested in reading an interview from a Bway source, perhaps this very site.

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Ricki Lake has a cameo in the Hairspray movie musical.
http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=14290

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I find it quite unfair the way the media is exploiting Ms.Holliday's emotional issues simply because they know Dreamgirls is bound to be an unqualified hit and that Ms.Hudson will probably become a star (if she manages to have better agents, a better attitude, and makes better choices than Holliday did when she was the one in the spotlight).
There was absolutely no major media coverage when Daphne Rubin-Vega was deliberately snubbed from the Rent film (good for her to not be associated with that film if you ask me), because from the second the critics killed whatever buzz the studio had tried to create, there was no reaason to exploit Rubin-Vega's thoughts on the movie. It is absurd the way the media takes advantages of this woman who is clearly unable to let go of a once-glamorous and exciting past. They have to be aware people are going to think she is being a bit absurd, they shouldn't take advantage of her to make money for the papers and the film as well (as they say, any publicity is good publicity.)

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Her existence sounds like a one-woman Samuel Beckett play--living in a kind of self-willed solitude cut off from the modern world, singing one song over and over again until it becomes meaningless. Whether she has really been whipped by life or is just a prisoner of her own delusions (or both), it can't be easy for her. I would rather hate to be her psychiatrist.

She can take comfort in one thing, however; there is no way her rendition of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" is going to be eclipsed, or even approached, by Jennifer Hudson's. I haven't seen the movie, but just comparing the movie soundtrack to the OBCR of DREAMGIRLS (as everyone cannot help doing)--it's laughable. Holliday (in 1981) made it seem like the song was being torn out of her very soul. Her singing style was absorbed and copied by the intervening generation until it finally got to Jennifer Hudson, whose endless trills and octave jumps are all for show. It's imitation soul.

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Jennifer Holliday will probably always own the song in my eyes, I still remember the first time I ever listened/saw her rendition of the song, it was on the My Favorite Broadway: The Leading Ladies DVD. I had never heard of Dreamgirls, Holliday, or "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" (I wasn't raised in the US to my defense), and when I saw her I was awestruck by her performance. She got a very well-deserved standing ovation on that concert, I know if she performed the song today at a similar concert she'll get a standing ovation as well. She truly gets the song (wasn't it written after she joined the Dreamgirls workshop?).
Having said that, calling Jennifer Hudson's rendition of the song "laughable" is a bit preposterous. Hudson pays homage to Holliday while making the song her own which makes for a very touching, emotional combination. I'm not sure how the movie version is (she performed it live from what I understand, then went back and re-recorded it for the soundtrack) but the more I listen to it on the soundtrack, the more impressed I am. I must say that she definitely provides a more touching and well-sung version than Lillias White does on the concert cast recording.

EDIT: Just saw this nice article on MSN.com about Hudson under the title "Hudson steals 'Dreamgirls'" that perhaps Jennifer Holliday should read:
More importantly, Hudson's portrayal of Effie needed to step out of the shadow of Jennifer Holiday, who originated the role on Broadway when the musical debuted 25 years ago. Hudson admits she didn't know much about the show before she was cast, but she certainly knew of Holiday's legendary pipes.

"I thought the original character of Effie was Jennifer Holliday. I used to say, 'I want to play Jennifer Holliday on Broadway,'" Hudson says laughing at herself. "That's how much I knew of 'Dreamgirls.'"
Hudson Steals "Dreamgirls"

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Rath, I agree that she sounds much more stunning on the OBCR (and seeing her Tony performance can't compare to the Leading Ladies concert either). I was just recalling the first time I ever saw her without knowing anything about who she was or the song itself, and even if it was not as brilliant as the original, I had nothing to compare it to so I was shocked by her performance.
Speaking of the Tony performance, after all this controversy I doubt that the Dreamgirls film DVD will include the Tony clip that has so been protected by the Bennett state as some of us hoped they would.

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