Dreamgirls

We were looking forward to this show despite the fact that we've seen the Academy Award winning movie  at least 2-3 times.  The first time we saw the movie was in a theatre. So we experienced on the big screen, the epic performance by Jennifer Hudson as Ellie and the beauty of Beyonce as Deena.  I remember the applause in the theatre after Jennifer belted out "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"...I got teary eyed because she was so emotional begging Curtis (Jamie Foxx) not to leave her with such a strong set of vocals.  The whole cast including Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy made the movie an excellent musical, well deserving of the nominations and awards the movie collected back in 2006.

So okay, this is going to be interesting because the story and songs were going to be presented in a different format.  Broadway and movies are different medias, so we will be open minded.  We have front row season seats, so while we were waiting, I was observing the staging.  I figure we were in for some great light shows because there was a whole wall of lights, floor to ceiling on either side of the stage besides the normal overhead lighting.  I counted 90-100 spotlights on either side.  Wow.

First, we were so disappointed with the little slip of paper inserted in our programs announcing that Ellie, one of the main characters was being played by a substitute, Patrice Covington.  Oh Great.

But, wow to the show because she packed a wallop with her performance.  Patrice was EXCELLENT!  We don't know how the regular, Moya Angela,  would sound, but how could she be any better?  Her rendition of the same song Jennifer Hudson sang was absolutely wonderful.  I was riveted by her performance.  Remember the old commercial of this guy sitting in an armchair listening to an awesome speaker system?  He sat there gripping the armchair while he was being "blown away" by the sound.  Same here.  We just sat there wondering, how much more wonderful can this person's voice get???

Chester Gregory played Jimmy, Eddie Murphy's role in the movie.  He was excellent as the James Brown soul singer and irreverent dancer.  Syesha Mercado played the role of Deena Jones and she was okay.  She started her career as the second runner-up on American Idol's seventh season.  But I don't remember her in particular.  Chaz Shepard played the other main male role, Curtis.  He was okay too, but in his bio he was on the Billboard charts 3 times in 2009 and his gospel work was nominated for a Grammy in 2009.  So the quality of the cast was top notch.

The main difference between the movie and the theatre presentation was that there was more dancing and the lively dancing to the Detroit soul sound kept everyone mesmerized.  The dazzling 90+ lights were probably causing the electric meters in downtown L.A. to spin out of control as they made the costumes sparkle.  The costumes were not only glamorous, but interesting.  In one scene, Ellie is singing in a casual top and slacks as she auditions for her comeback.  During the same song, the scene is supposed to transition to her singing in a nightclub with a sparkling evening gown.  To make this happen onstage, she is surrounded very briefly by props and people.  I could see her unsnap her blouse at the shoulders and voila, it becomes an evening gown, then with an addition of a disco ball and a candelabra the new scene was complete.  The same innovative way changing costumes was very evident in a scene when the Dreams was supposed to be in several fashion photo shoots.  As they sang and danced amid the change of moving scenery, they threw off layers of clothing to show off different costumes.

So all in all, this is a keeper.  Great show.