Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, April 15, 1994 TAG: 9404150068
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: EXTRA6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: |By KEVIN DANIELS| |STAFF WRITER|
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The audience at the Roanoke Civic Center was in hearty agreement Thursday night, when the Broadway musical "Dreamgirls" came through town for a single performance. They were so enthusiastic that they gave a standing ovation at the end of Act 1, when Cynthia Waddell, in the role of Effie, ripped through the Jennifer Holliday show-stopper, "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going."
Waddell is ably assisted by Miki Howard as Deena Jones, the woman whom manager Curtis Taylor Jr. (Eric Jordan Young) shifts into the lead position to give the singing group the Dreams a chance at cross-over success.
Curtis and the Dreams' lyricist, C.C. White (played by understudy Chipper Cooke), have become tired of their rhythm-and-blues tunes being successfully covered by white singers. They decide to create "modern sounds that catch your ear" in a series of business maneuvers that recall Berry Gordy's founding of Motown.
But before Curtis makes the Dreams big, he has to discover them. While performing in a talent contest at the Apollo Theater, the Dreamettes - Effie, Deena and Lorell Robinson (April Harris) - wow the audience with a fast-paced number that is hampered by their homemade dresses, which resemble the curtains in a tacky motel. Curtis convinces soul star James Thunder Early to hire them as backup singers. Early, in a hammy performance by Cary Hampton, is a frenetic blending of James Brown and Little Richard - a combination that repeatedly brought down the house.
As the renamed Dreams achieve stardom, their personal dreams threaten to tear them apart. Michelle Morris (Gabrielle Cannon) is brought in to replace the combative Effie, who insists, "I do not sing backup. ... I'm not singing behind anybody." Lorell sinks into bitterness when she realizes her seven-year romance with the married Early "Ain't No Party."
Even the group's star is having troubles. Faced with an offer to make a movie, Deena tells Curtis she's leaving, in a move that recalls Diana Ross' foray into film. In fact, Miki Howard appropriates several of Ross' signature mannerisms, including her hunched shoulders and her too-wide smile.
With all of these problems, it is inevitable that the Dreams break up. But their final performance is handled with such class - Effie and the Dreams reunite - that the farewell song, "Hard to Say Good-bye, My Love" seems even more fitting than the Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together."
The fantastic performances are supported by innovative staging, fantastic performances are supported by innovative staging, designed by Richard Amaro, that includes mobile light towers which quickly create transitions between the singers' backstage arguing and their onstage performing. The choreography by Adam Wilson, which could have been played as parodies of Motown performances, are instead a successful homage, translating the controlled choreography of the '60s into the looser movements of the '90s.
But the ultimate praise goes to Tom Eyen, the show's playwright and song writer, who created a crowd-pleaser in 1981 that is still enjoying success.
by CNB