About the work
Dreamgirls is a musical by Henry Krieger (music) and Tom Eyen (lyrics and book), premiered on Broadway in 1981. Inspired by Motown and soul, the show traces the rise of a Black girl group in the music business of the 1960s and won six Tony Awards.
Plot
The young singing trio "The Dreams"—Effie, Deena, and Lorrell—from Chicago is discovered by the ambitious manager Curtis Taylor Jr. and systematically shaped for success. To broaden their mass appeal, Curtis pushes the powerful-voiced but fuller-figured Effie out of the spotlight and makes the more photogenic Deena the star. Effie is nearly broken by betrayal and lost love but fights her way back. As the Dreams rise to global fame, the human and artistic costs of commercial success are laid bare, until reconciliation and a final shared performance.
Cultural significance
Dreamgirls is regarded as a landmark of the African-American musical and a thinly veiled allusion to the history of Motown and the Supremes. The powerful ballad And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going became one of the most famous showstopper numbers in musical theatre. The six-Tony-winning original production and the acclaimed 2006 film, which won Jennifer Hudson an Academy Award, secured the work a firm place in popular culture.