The Supreme Beings: What 'DREAMGIRLS' gets right on the big screen Deena Jones, the role played by Beyonc Knowles in "Dreamgirls," was based on the late Diana Ross, while the film's primary character, Effie White, was based on the late Etta James, according to the film's composer Henry Krieger. Privacy Statement Based on the Broadway musical, a trio of black female soul singers cross over to the pop charts in the early 1960's. 216,688 people like this. 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. He appoints the slimmer, more conventionally attractive Deena as the new lead singer, renaming them "The Dreams". Deena and Effie reconcile, with Effie telling her that Curtis is Magic's father. "[77] Reports emerged of significant behind-the-scenes in-fighting between the DreamWorks and Paramount camps, in particular between DreamWorks' David Geffen and Paramount CEO Brad Grey, over decision making and credit-claiming during the Dreamgirls awards campaign. They force Curtis to nationally distribute Effie's record to avoid being reported to the FBI. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $155 million at the international box office. [7], After preview screenings during the summer of 2006, several minutes worth of musical footage were deleted from the film due to negative audience reactions to the amount of music. Who was the main character in Dreamgirls based on? Learn more about the full cast of Dreamgirls with news, photos, videos and more at TV Guide . Jennifer Kate Hudson was born on September 12, 1981 in Chicago, Illinois to Darnell Donerson (ne Hudson) & Samuel Simpson. During the course of production, Paramount's parent company, Viacom, would purchase DreamWorks, aligning the two studios under one umbrella (and giving the senior studio US distribution rights on behalf of DreamWorks). Certainly whites (particularly young people) had been listening to black music before girl groups came on the. Juneika Martinez, Quisha Farrell and Victoria Spruiell are in good voice as the Stepp Sisters and Les Styles. White,[24] but contract negotiations failed; Usher was unable to dedicate half a year to the project. The Supremes were three girls -- Ross, Ballard and Mary Wilson -- who grew up in the projects and originally called themselves the Primettes. [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. [49] Both DVD versions featured alternative and extended versions of the musical numbers from the film as extras, including the "Effie, Sing My Song" scene deleted during previews. In any case, neither Franklin nor James ever belonged to the Supremes. 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. 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. In a January 25, 2007 interview with NPR, Robinson expressed offense at the film's portrayal of its Berry Gordy analogue, Curtis Taylor Jr., as a "villainous character" who deals in payola and other illegal activities. Gordy also packaged Gaye, at one point, as a supper club entertainer -- a common strategy for R&B performers hoping to cross over to white audiences in those days -- a scene repeated in the movie with Early. Foxx took on the role, which was based. "Introduction". And, of course, white artists also re-recorded songs done by black artists. The single-disc version of the soundtrack peaked at number-one on the Billboard 200 during a slow sales week in early January 2007. ", The girls went to Detroit for an audition, and eventually, they kick-started the Motown hit machine that would later call itself "The Sound of Young America." Based on his/her attributes, we recommend you consider these audition pieces! [4] Upon its release, the film garnered positive reviews from critics, who particularly praised Condon's direction, the soundtrack, costume design, production design, and performances of the cast (in particular of Hudson and Murphy). Curtis Taylor, Jr. represents Motown Founder Berry Gordy. [23], The most crucial casting decision involved the role of Effie White, the emotional center of the story. [31] The presentation of Knowles over Hudson as the sole Best Actress candidate had interesting parallels with the film itself. Jimmy's manager, Marty Madison, grows weary of Curtis' plans to make his client more pop-friendly and walks out. [8] With a production budget of $80 million, Dreamgirls is one of the most expensive films to feature a predominant African-American starring cast in American film history. [19] When offered the part of Curtis, Foxx initially declined because DreamWorks could not meet his salary demands. For instance, "Please Mr. Postman" is in some ways a classic girl group song, with a girl waiting for a letter from a boy. 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. Detroit, the early 1960s. [16] That same year, Geffen, who ran his Warner Bros.-associated Geffen Pictures film production company at the time, began talks with Broadway lyricist and producer Howard Ashman to adapt it as a star vehicle for Whitney Houston, who was to portray Deena. Curtis pitches a film about Cleopatra to star Deena, whom he has also married. [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. [16], Warner Bros. had retained the film rights to Dreamgirls, and agreed to co-produce with DreamWorks. Your Privacy Rights 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. And all that very famous footage of Elizabeth Eckfordgoing to school that first day. 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. Gottfried, Marvin (2007). And it wasn't only menRuth Brown's "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" was number one on the R&B charts in 1953, and number 23 on the pop charts. In Motown, founder Berry Gordy aimed to make music with widespread pop charts appeal. In addition to the original compositions by composer Henry Krieger and lyricist/librettist Tom Eyen, four new songs, composed by Krieger with various lyricists, were added for the film. Unbeknownst to them Effie is pregnant with Curtis's child, but she doesn't say anything. [19][22], Dreamgirls musical supervisors Randy Spendlove and Matt Sullivan hired R&B production team The Underdogs Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas to restructure and rearrange the Henry Krieger/Tom Eyen Dreamgirls score so that it better reflected its proper time period, yet also reflected then-modern R&B/pop sensibilities. . "[54] Metacritic reports a weighted average score of 76 out of 100 rating, based on 37 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". The fantastic wigs look right, too. The film's nominations included Best Supporting Actor (Eddie Murphy), Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Hudson), Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Sound Mixing, and three nominations for Best Song ("Listen", "Love You I Do", and "Patience"). Terms of Use Offstage, Effie falls in love with Curtis while the married Jimmy does likewise with Lorrell. How many of these performances do you remember? One thing is certain: by the time the women's movement arrived in the late 1960s, there was a generation of women used to standing on the stage and telling the world how they felt. With Tom Eyen having died in 1991,[7] various lyricists were brought in by Krieger to co-author the new songs. Join StageAgent today and unlock amazing theatre resources and opportunities. They announced that they were having a talent show. But the success of girl groups had to do with more than harmony and lyrics. Gordy, like his counterpart in the movie, had aspirations of making movies. "The most surprised was Motown. Rated PG-13 for language, some sexuality and drug content. | That isn't to say teenagers weren't also listening to the original Little Richard. The girls rarely wrote their own songs, but neither did the male groups of the time. [104], The payola scheme used in the film's script, to which Robinson took offense, is identical to the payola scheme allegedly used by Gordy and the other Motown executives, according to sworn court depositions from Motown executive Michael Lushka, offered during the litigation between the label and its chief creative team, HollandDozierHolland. Some might even remember the 1981 Broadway production with Jennifer Holliday. "[60] Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter was less enthusiastic, stating that while the film was "a damn good commercial movie, it is not the film that will revive the musical or win over the world". Filming & Production He eventually drops Effie, hiring his secretary Michelle Morris to replace her beginning with their 1966 New Year's Eve debut in Las Vegas as "Deena Jones & the Dreams." "Come and get these memories: gender, history and racial uplift in Bill Condon's Dreamgirls". [citation needed] A scrapbook, entitled Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical, was released on March 27, 2007. 1 In Sluggish Sales Week. In what was considered an upset, Murphy lost the Best Supporting Actor award to Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine. "For them to be on Ed Sullivanalmost every week it seemed likethat was a tremendous, incredible influence," Whitall remembers. [5][47][48] The film's national release, at regular prices, began on December 25. | Similarities to Aretha Franklin, however, are also hardly coincidental. The character of Deena Jones leaves the Dreams in 1972 to pursue a career as an actress. The site's critics consensus states: "Dreamgirls' simple characters and plot hardly detract from the movie's real feats: the electrifying performances and the dazzling musical numbers. Although loosely based on The Supremes, the movie is a work of fiction. [41], Four new songs were added for the film: "Love You I Do", "Patience", "Perfect World," and "Listen. Because of events like this, says Warwick, the figure of the non-white teenage girl was being politicized in America. Answer. Dreamgirls characters breakdowns including full descriptions with standard casting requirements and expert analysis. The timing of 'Postman' was excellent. transform The Dreams into a top-selling mainstream pop group. Schaffner of The Marvelettes talks about the song's political significance in Marc Taylor's book The Original Marvelettes: Motown's Mystery Girl Group. Gaye was not only Motown's chief solo male vocal star, he was married to Gordy's sister. 5, 537553. Nat King Cole reached the charts in 1946 with "(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66," which made the top ten. 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. He signs a trio of young women, the Dreamettes, gets them a job backing an R&B performer, James "Thunder" Early, establishes his own record label and starts wheeling and dealing. [72], In addition, Dreamgirls was the first film in Academy Award history to receive the highest number of nominations for the year, yet not be nominated for Best Picture. Movie. By 1965, however, Effie begins acting out, particularly when Curtis' affections also turn towards Deena. We had a lot of young men that were leaving home for the first time going into the military, and, of course, some never returned. In the 1950s, Chuck Berry had songs at the top of the R&B and pop charts, as did Little Richard. Towards the end, Curtis notices Magic in the front row, realizing she is his daughter. leaves Los Angeles and reconciles with Effie in Detroit. In New York, Phil Spector produced girl group songs using his famous "wall of sound," a production technique that employed a huge amount of instruments and layered track after track on top of each other. But because of our performance, one of our teacherswhen it came time to audition for Motownbecause that was a part of what your winnings would be, to audition for Motownshe recommended that they take the top five. "We get young teenage girls at front and center in mainstream pop culture." 2. URL: Nader, Juli (Nov. 21, 2006). Aided by new songs and a new image, Curtis and C.C. [95][96] The photo shoot montage which accompanies "When I First Saw You", as well as the subplot of Deena being forced to star in Curtis' Cleopatra film against her will, reflect both scenes from and the production of Mahogany, a 1975 Motown film starring Diana Ross and directed by Motown CEO Berry Gordy. Dreamgirls is the first live-action film to receive three nominations for Best Song; previously the Disney animated features Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) had each received three Academy Award nominations for Best Song; Enchanted (2007) has since repeated the feat. In any case, neither Franklin nor James ever belonged to the Supremes. Of course, some of the girls were so young that chaperones accompanied them on toursometimes their parents. [63], Many reviews, regardless of their overall opinion of the film, cited Hudson's and Murphy's performances as standouts, with Travers proclaiming Murphy's performance of "Jimmy's Rap" as "his finest screen moment. [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. Both the Blu-ray and HD DVD versions were issued in two-disc formats. The Effie White character from the Broadway play (and film) "Dreamgirls" is loosely based on Ballard. A black-owned recording company having such a hit was, at that time, revolutionary. "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. [78], At the Academy Awards ceremony on February 25, 2007, Dreamgirls won Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Sound Mixing. He feels Effie's plus size figure and distinctive, soulful voice will not attract white audiences, (as Deena's voice, although more basic and generic, is more marketable). [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. They sang to mixed audiences about courtship, boys, parties, parents and parents not letting them go to parties to court boys. Geffen, taking the role of co-producer, brought Paramount Pictures in to co-finance and release Dreamgirls. Like the rest of the cast, Eddie does all his own singing in the film, but even he admits that the pop albums he put out in the '80s weren't a good example of what he could do. The post-war baby boom had produced more teenagers than ever before, and the 1950s brought the explosion of a new teen culture with its own music, clothes, movies and dancing. [36] Originally scheduled to be shot in one day, Condon was forced to ask for extra time and money to finish shooting the "And I Am Telling You" scene, as Hudson's voice would give out after four hours of shooting the musical number, and she was unable to plausibly lip-sync while hoarse. [104] Gordy issued a statement shortly afterwards expressing his acceptance of the apology. Technical Specs, See agents for this cast & crew on IMDbPro, Silver Tie Music Producer in Final Audience with Marty Madison, Greatest Supporting Actress Oscar Performances (1990-Now), Broadway to Hollywood Musical Adaptations, (based on the original broadway production book by), director of photography (as Tobias Schliessler), makeup department head (as Tym Shutchai Buacharern) / makeup designer, hair stylist: Ms. Knowles (as Kim Kimble), character dental prosthetic designer: Eddie Murphy, additional second second assistant director, second assistant director: second unit (uncredited), lead designer: end title sequence, Picture Mill, construction coordinator (as Stacey McIntosh), prosthetic dental appliances: Eddie Murphy, assistant property master (as Andy Siegel) / prop master: second unit, illustrator: Cleopatra images (as Felipe Sanchez), art department production assistant (uncredited), production sound mixer (as Willie Burton), first assistant sound editor (as Josie Nericcio), supervising foley editor (as Thomas Small), sound designer / supervising sound editor, special effects technician (as Don Black), special effects coordinator (as Don Frazee), special effects technician (as Jim Lorimer), digital compositor: Gray Matter Visual Effects / i/o manager: Gray Matter Visual Effects, digital compositor: Gray Matter Visual Effects (as Joey Brattesani), rotoscope artist: Gray Matter Visual Effects, motion graphics montages: Black Box Digital, visual effects producer: Gray Matter Visual Effects, lead compositor: end title sequence, Picture Mill (as Joshua Novak), matte painter: Gray Matter Visual Effects, digital compositor: Gray Matter Visual Effects, digital compositor: Gray Matter Visual Effects (as Colleen Smith), 3D animator: end title sequence, Picture Mill, stunt performer (as Johnny Cenatiempo) / stunts, stunt double: Amika Noni Rose (uncredited), additional moving light programmer / dimmer board operator, lighting technician: additional photography, first assistant camera: "c" camera (as Anthony Cappello) / first assistant camera: second unit (as Anthony Cappello), first assistant camera: additional photography, second assistant camera: "c" camera / second assistant camera: second unit, 24 frame video playback operator (as Dave McGraw), camera operator: "c" camera / director of photography: second unit, assistant chief lighting technician: additional photography, additional electrician (as Peter Villani), assistant chief lighting technician (as Michael Yope), animator: end title sequence, Picture Mill, lead animator: end title sequence, Picture Mill (as Joshua Novak), costume production assistant (as Daisy Alexandra Sylbert), digital intermediate technologist: Company 3, digital intermediate on-line editor: Company 3, colorist: Company 3 / digital intermediate executive producer: Company 3, assistant location manager (as Diana Lara), key assistant location manager (uncredited), choreographer: musical numbers / drum consultant, music editor: vocal sync (as Timothy Boot), music arranger: original Broadway production, composer: additional music / music arranger / music arranger: strings, composer: additional music / supervising music editor, music arranger (as Matt Sullivan) / music supervisor (as Matt Sullivan) / soundtrack producer (as Matt Sullivan), composer: original music / music arranger: original score / producer: original score, orchestrator: original Broadway production, transportation dispatcher (as Karen Chang), production assistant: second unit (as Lou Bonachea), production coordinator: Miami / production coordinator: second unit/pickups, second assistant accountant (as Cristina Duncan) / second assistant accountant, set production assistant: additional photography, Los Angeles, production secretary: additional photography, set production assistant: additional photography, Los Angeles (as Bill Greenfield), personal assistant: Mr. Murphy (as Jemal D. Guillory), additional craft service (as Noel Harris), executive assistant: Mr. Murphy (as Charisse Hewitt Webster), Stand in for Beyonc Knowles (as Erica Bynum), systems administrator: Graty Matter Visual Effects, production office coordinator: Gray Matter Visual Effects, creative supervisor: end title sequence, Picture Mill, coordinator: end title sequence, Picture Mill, producer: end title sequence, Picture Mill, production assistant (as Daisy Alexandra Sylbert), personal assistant: Mr. Murphy (as Randy L. Webster), assistant production coordinator: additional photography. Year to the who are the characters in dreamgirls based on Little Richard, at that time, revolutionary affections also towards! Avoid being reported to the project hit was, at regular prices began... ] Gordy issued a statement shortly afterwards expressing his acceptance of the story he was married to Gordy 's.. Re-Recorded songs done by black artists the Dreams into a top-selling mainstream pop.! 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