
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, April 14, 1994                   TAG: 9404140306
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: By ALMENA HUGHES STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

`DREAMGIRLS' COMES TO TOWN

Last week was a nightmare for "Dreamgirls" star Miki Howard. On April 2, while in California, she got a case of food poisoning so serious that her stomach had to be pumped. After a few days' rest, her activities had to be restricted from interviews and appearances to stage performances only.

"It was a frightening and miserable experience for [Miki]," said Howard's manager, Earline Franklin, by phone from her Detroit office. But she assured that Howard would be in fine form for tonight's performance at the Roanoke Civic Center of the production that won six Tony Awards when it hit Broadway in 1982.

"Dreamgirls" is the story of the rise to fame during the 1960s and '70s of three black back-up singers who call themselves The Dreamettes. Along their ascent are the requisite encounter with an unscrupulous manager, unabashed womanizing, maneuvering, intrigue, treachery, greed, sex, corruption and duplicity.

The fictional account is often paralleled with the real-life story of Motown's Supremes' rise to chart-topping fame during the same period. "Effie Melody White," the overweight and "difficult" founding member of the Dreamettes who is eventually replaced by a more svelte singer, is often compared to the Supremes' voluptuous Florence Ballard, who was eventually replaced by Cindy Birdsong. Howard's character, "Deena Jones," is compared to Diana Ross.

The version of "Dreamgirls" coming to the civic center will by the tour's end be presented in more than 100 performances in 30 states. The play's creative staff says it will be a "highly distinctive reading of the show that will retain all the flash and technical dazzle of the Broadway original, while placing more emphasis on the conflicts and connections of its characters, giving the play a fuller and more satisfying emotional impact."

The music should be good, too, with former Seduction lead singer April Harris as The Dreamettes' "Lorrell Robinson," and veteran stage performers Gabrielle Cannon as "Michelle Morris" and Cynthia Waddell as "Effie Melody White."

Howard, whose parents were members of the gospel singing groups The Caravans and Pilgrim Jubilees, has to her credit three albums, four Top 5 R&B hits, a "Billboard" magazine No.1 single, a co-starring role in John Singleton's "Poetic Justice," which starred Janet Jackson, and a portrayal as the legendary Billie Holiday in Spike Lee's "Malcom X." And as most people who've heard Howard will tell you, the lady can sing the blues and just about anything else.

by CNB