The national tour of the revamped Tony Award-winning 1982 Broadway musical DREAMGIRLS has announced dates through the end of 2010, with engagements planned in San Francisco, Atlanta, Memphis and Miami.
Director and co-choreographer Robert Longbottom (SIDE SHOW and revivals of FLOWER DRUM SONG and BYE BYE BIRDIE) and Emmy-nominated (FOX TV’s SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE?) hip-hop artist Shane Sparks co-choreographed the production that launched at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem in November 2009.
Moya Angela stars as Effie White alongside Syesha Mercado as Deena Jones, Adrienne Warren as Lorrell Robinson and Margaret Hoffman as Michelle Morris. Principal casting also includes Chaz Lamar Shepherd as Curtis Taylor, Jr., Chester Gregory as James "Thunder" Early, Trevon Davis as C.C. White and Milton Craig Nealy as Marty Madison.
DREAMGIRLS features music by Henry Krieger and book and lyrics by Tom Eyen (with additional lyrics by Reale). The late Michael Bennett directed and choreographed the original 1982 Broadway production (Michael Peters co-choreographed); Bennett and Peters won Tony Awards for the show's choreography.
Tony Award winner Robin Wagner, who created the scenic designs for the original 1982 Broadway production of DREAMGIRLS, rendered new designs for this production. The design team also boasts Tony winners William Ivey Long (costume design) and Ken Billington (lighting design), and Acme Sound Partners (sound design), with media design by Howard Werner for Lightswitch.
Sam Davis serves as musical director for the production that has orchestrations by Harold Wheeler, and vocal arrangements by David Chase and Cleavant Derricks.
Drawing apparent inspiration from Diana Ross and the Supremes, DREAMGIRLS follows its central trio's beginnings at an amateur-night competition, to their first big break singing back up for a headliner on the road. Their road to success is not without its bumps: When they ultimately nab a headlining deal of their own, one girl's dreams are shattered as she is replaced as the lead of the Dreams.
This latest stage incarnation of DREAMGIRLS, which first played a test run in Seoul with an all-Korean cast last winter, includes the song "Listen," from the 2006 multi-Academy Award winning film adaptation. The song has been rewritten by Krieger and Willie Reale. In the current production, the song has been reconceived as a duet for Effie and Deena. Krieger and Reale also penned a new opening sequence for the second act, entitled "What Love Can Do."
DREAMGIRLS will be at the Ziff Ballet Opera House at the Arsht Center in downtown Miami, Florida… from October 19 thru 24, 2010.
