The character was portrayed in the original 1981 Broadway production of Dreamgirls by Ben Harney and in its 2006 film adaptation by Jamie Foxx, who also played Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Bats in Baby Driver. [53], On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 206 reviews, with an average rating of 7.30/10. [4], Mark and Condon began pre-production with the intentions of casting Jamie Foxx and Eddie Murphy, both actors with record industry experience, as Curtis Taylor, Jr. and James "Thunder" Early, respectively. As much as Deena Jones, Beyonc Knowles ' character in "Dreamgirls," was modeled on Diana Ross, the film's main character, Effie White, was based on Etta James, according to composer Henry Krieger. In Motown, founder Berry Gordy aimed to make music with widespread pop charts appeal. However, after casting was completed, the film was budgeted at $73 million and Warner backed out of the production. He appoints the slimmer, more conventionally attractive Deena as the new lead singer, renaming them "The Dreams". "Whereas these teenage boys, in cities like Detroit, can go out on the streets and kind of roam around the neighborhood and sing harmonies with each other, girls aren't so free to do that. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. Andr 3000 of Outkast was also offered the role, but declined. That same year, four teenage girls were killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. And gangs of boy dancers are strictly a Broadway convention; the R&B world was far too cash poor to afford such extraneous luxuries. Then everyone learns of Jimmy's unexpected death from a heroin overdose, which greatly upsets Lorrell. URL: Nader, Juli (Nov. 21, 2006). Screenwriter and director Bill Condon, who wrote Chicago's screenplay, met producer Laurence Mark at a Hollywood holiday party in late 2002, where the two discussed a long-held "dream project" of Condon's adapting Dreamgirls for the screen. That isn't to say teenagers weren't also listening to the original Little Richard. 214,187 people follow this. BOOKING There is even a brief appearance by a group resembling the young Jackson Five. "[34], After Hudson was cast in November 2005, the Dreamgirls cast began extensive rehearsals with Condon and choreographers Fatima Robinson and Aakomon "AJ" Jones, veterans of the music video industry. But there are things -- much more important than specific details of time or place -- that the film gets very right, such as record label boss Taylor's cold indifference to the act he now realizes is washed up or Early's heroin overdose death. 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Dreamgirls eventually grossed $103 million in North America, and almost $155 million worldwide. [6] The story follows the history and evolution of American R&B music during the 1960s and 1970s through the eyes of a Detroit girl group known as "The Dreams" and their manipulative record executive. After Warner's Frankie Lymon biopic Why Do Fools Fall in Love failed at the box office, the studio shut down development on Dreamgirls. | And we were fourth. Gordy, like his counterpart in the movie, had aspirations of making movies. Diana Ross left the Supremes in 1970 to pursue other projects such as film work, in 1972 she starred in her first motion picture, the Motown-produced Lady Sings the Blues. Three Supremes albums Let the Sunshine In, Cream of the Crop, and Touch were reworked into Deena Jones & The Dreams album designs, with the only differences in the designs being the substitution of the names and images of the Supremes with those of Deena Jones & the Dreams. The book was released on October 31, 2006. [92], The Dreamgirls novelization was written by African-American novelist Denene Millner, and adapts the film's official script in chapter form, along with fourteen pages of photographs from the film. Left to right: Florence Ballard, Mary Wilson, Diana Ross AP Wire photo 1965 And all that very famous footage of Elizabeth Eckfordgoing to school that first day. In one scene, Effie saunters into Curtis' office and discusses Rainbow Records' latest LP, The Great March to Freedom, a spoken word album featuring speeches by Martin Luther King Jr. These dark moments, where shadows fall across the dazzling film, resonated with truth. But they also sang about love and crushes, mostly from the position of a patiently waiting, yearning girl. Jimmy's manager, Marty Madison, grows weary of Curtis' plans to make his client more pop-friendly and walks out. Dreamgirls was the first DreamWorks film to be issued in a high definition home entertainment format. He looks like Ike Turner, borrows his stage moves from Wilson and has some Marvin Gaye hovering over his character. Certainly whites (particularly young people) had been listening to black music before girl groups came on the scene, and black artists had made the pop charts before. Early's evolution is also marvelously reflected in his changing tonsorial and sartorial styles. Hundreds of girl groups recorded songs during the sixties, but hardly any of them were seasoned musicians. At the 64th Golden Globe Awards, it won three awards, including for the Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy.[9]. "That really had never happened before and it really hasn't happened since," says Warwick. Character description, analysis and casting breakdown for Effie White from Dreamgirls. [27], Anika Noni Rose, a Broadway veteran and a Tony Award winner, won the part of Lorrell Robinson after an extensive auditioning process. [22], Principal photography began January 6, 2006 with the filming of dance footage for the first half of "Steppin' to the Bad Side," footage later deleted from the film. In any case, neither Franklin nor James ever belonged to the Supremes. David Geffen, the stage musical's co-financier, retained the film rights to Dreamgirls and turned down many offers to adapt the story for the screen. Dreamgirls Directed by Bill Condon Produced by Laurence Mark Written by Bill Condon Based on Dreamgirls by Henry Krieger Tom Eyen Starring Jamie Foxx Beyonc Knowles Eddie Murphy Danny Glover Anika Noni Rose Keith Robinson Jennifer Hudson Music by Stephen Trask Cinematography Tobias A. Schliessler Editing by Virginia Katz Studio [38], Shooting was completed in the early-morning hours of April 8, 2006, after four days were spent shooting Jennifer Hudson's musical number "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going", which had purposefully been saved until the end of the shoot. Curtis soon starts his own record label, Rainbow Records, out of his Detroit car dealership, appointing Effie's brother C.C. But then again, hindsight is that there was a lot going on when 'Postman' was released. | [8] Dreamgirls earned a total of $851,664 from the roadshow engagements, playing to sold-out houses on the weekends. So the emblem of the teenage girl is being imbued with a lot of political significance. Curtis Taylor, Jr. represents Motown Founder Berry Gordy. The production ran into problems when Houston wanted to sing both Deena and Effie's songs (particularly "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going"), and the film was eventually abandoned. Filming & Production And even if it gets much more right than it does wrong, "Dreamgirls" is still an imagining of the rough and gritty life of the R&B performer, a pop musical divertissement rather than an earthy, true-to-life account. "At Motown, The Marvelettes, The Velvelettes, groups like that, are much more clearly identified as teenagers," she says, "and arguably that's why The Supremes had more longevity. [82] Dreamgirls also received a record eleven Black Reel Award nominations, and won six of the awards, among them Best Film. Lorrell Robinson. DreamWorks hoped to encourage amateur productions of Dreamgirls, and familiarize a wider audience with the play. Dreamgirls debuted in four special road show engagements starting on December 15, 2006, before its nationwide release on December 25, 2006. However, Deena clandestinely hopes the film will never come to be, pursuing other acting gigs. In 1961, The Shirelles reached number one on the pop charts with "Will You Love Me Tomorrow?" Their first several singles for the label bombed, but once the group changed lead vocalists and hooked up with songwriters Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland, the Supremes exploded with five consecutive No. [7] "Listen", with additional music by Scott Cutler and Beyonc, and lyrics by Anne Preven, is presented as a defining moment for Deena's character late in the film. This LP is an authentic Motown release, issued as Gordy 906 in June 1963. [41], Four new songs were added for the film: "Love You I Do", "Patience", "Perfect World," and "Listen. [46], Similar to the releases of older Hollywood musicals such as The Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, and West Side Story, Dreamgirls debuted with three special ten-day roadshow engagements beginning on December 15, 2006 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, the Cinerama Dome in Los Angeles, and the AMC Metreon 15 in San Francisco. [61] Ed Gonzales of Slant magazine found the entire picture too glossy, and declared that "the film doesn't care to articulate the emotions that haunt its characters". [28] Though Barrino emerged as an early frontrunner for the part,[29] Hudson was eventually selected to play Effie, leading Barrino to telephone Hudson and jokingly complain that Hudson "stole [Barrino's] part. They're pictured during a routine they'll do on an upcoming Red Skelton television show. Dreamgirls premiered on December 4, 2006 at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, where it received a standing ovation. "We listen to Pat Boone covering Little Richard songs now and it's just laughable," she says, "but at the time that was a real phenomenon. [50] As of 2017[update], total domestic video sales to date are at $95.1 million. Because of events like this, says Warwick, the figure of the non-white teenage girl was being politicized in America. Jamie Foxx portrayed Curtis Taylor Jr., the ruthless record executive at Rainbow Records and love interest of two women in his star group, the Dreams. Although rehearsals ended just before Christmas 2005, Condon called Hudson back for a week of one-on-one rehearsals, to help her more fully become the "diva" character of Effie. Outside of the one bunker-buster ballad that closed the play's first act, "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" -- and no song has received a more powerful performance anywhere than the one given this song in the film by its new star, Jennifer Hudson, as White -- the songs are mundane, derivative and not capable of standing on their own outside the context of the musical, or other people might have recorded them in the 25 years since director Michael Bennett made "Dreamgirls" a Broadway smash. [25] After briefly considering R&B singer Omarion,[26] singer/actor Keith Robinson was eventually cast in the role. We were into, or going into the Vietnam War. 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