Tried improving sound and visual as best I could. This historic Michael Bennett show was written by Henry Krieger & Tom Eyen and choreographed by Michael Bennett & Michael Peters. (Thanks to James Lonnie Grant)
Some people would want to see presidents, some people would want to see the dinosaurs....call me crazy, but if I was ever given a time machine and was told I had 3 hours just to be a fly on the wall in history, I’d put myself in one of these seats. Performances like this are once in a lifetime.
I’ve always said my idea of heaven is getting to see all of the iconic shows I wasn’t around for or able to see. Dreamgirls is on the top of that list. And before the internet and the movie all I had to piece together this show was the abridged obc album which I played till I wore it out
At the time, Michael Bennett, the Director, would often say during interviews, "It's not a Black musical. We are a blended production. The performers are Black and much of the creative team is White." This was the early '80s when he was talking like that. The arts have always been way ahead of society. Regardless, ALL involved with this production were exceptional, at the height of their stage skill!
Don’t forget Jennifer Holliday also won a Grammy for her performance of “And I Am Telling You.” We just need NBC to do a live musical version so Alex Newell can win an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.
: the fact that we can watch this in any quality is amazing. thank you so much for a glimpse into one of the most inpsirational productions i've ever seen.
franco franus I agree completely! I almost jumped out my pants when I saw up here. Ever since I seen the movie I've been dying to see the original. Thank you so much Damien Slattery for posting this!!!
One thing I know, I know MS. LORETTA DEVINE’s voice when I hear it! I don’t have to see her face... cause once I hear her voice, I can see her face whether I’m looking a screen or not! #HugeFanOfLorettaDevine #LorettaDevine
Can we give Loretta Devine her flowers, please?! This production is SO LEGENDARY is easy to take her performance for granted. But, in my opinion, Nobody handles “Ain’t No Party” (@1:38:00) as well as she does TO THIS DAY. She literally gets 4 applause breaks in less one minute! Legend.
Oh man, this brings back great memories! I saw the originals and I vividly remember Jennifer Holiday's voice bringing the entire audience to our feet, applauding wildly and the song wasn't even over! 😅 Amazing experience and show. ❤
Eddie Murphy... deserved an Oscar for his performance! Just seeing the Original makes me appreciate the remake. So many talented men and women! Beautiful!
@@manup6814 Listen was made for Beyonce and altered for Deena and Effie as a duo in later performances. Michael Bennett's vision was for Deena's voice to be the softest and lightest, not for her to belt out like that. That's why she became lead singer, so they could cross over to the pop charts.
One of the most underrated voices in Entertainment. There is a reunion clip of them where Holiday is doing her thing a and Loretta just slides herself on in there like "Oh I can still hang, Sister" lol
I have the privilege to see Miss Jennifer Holliday in Dreamgirls 23 times and never got tired of it. Even one time her voice was so powerful doing I am telling you that she blew the speakers and busted them. We had to wait 45 minutes to have themreplaced and she did I am telling you again for the audience. We gave her a 10 minute standing ovation that she deserved.
I will NEVER forget watching this show in the audience of The Imperial Theatre. There were a few numbers (Ain't No Party, Move) that knocked the audience out, but when Jennifer sang forget it...the crowd went into shock. It was the only broadway show I ever saw. I was a runaway from Canada so for me this was just BEYOND. The feeling in that theatre is indescribable, we were just so high....it was a night that will live in my heart until I draw my last breath.
You've pretty much describe the experience just as my mother. She still talks about it til this day and lived vicariously through her. Thank goodness she bought the cast album and I played it so much it's worn and scratched up. I love it! Wish it was opening again on Broadway, at the Imperial theatre, not on the Westend.
I just saw the westend version. It's extremely good. not sure how it will transfer to the larger houses on broadway, but the production is spectacular and the voices are amazing.
DItto. I was on tour with the Ice Capades, New York 82, my roommate bought tickets and said we're ongoing to see "Dreamgirls". I had absolutely NO idea what we were going to see. It was my first Broadway play and till this what a WONDERFUL memory seeing Jennifer Holiday and the entire cast. She did indeed bring the HOUSE DOWN after her "signature song". ABSOLUTELYE AMAZING!
I do remember people screaming and talking to Jennifer Holliday during that song -- the audience was having a collective nervous breakdown, it was freaking amazing
The ending has me bawling. I've seen the movie more times than I can count, but Deena's voice when she says "thank you, and goodnight," made me lose it. Absolutely brilliant.
I've seen the original staging several times in NYC and the tours and always....ALWAYS....the Effie exit got so much applause I never heard the "skinny" Dreams singing "Love Love You Baby" -- it was ALL about the visual of wiping away the "fat, unattractive, problem" and replacing her with the more marketable trio...such a brilliant piece of staging and amazing performance.
How this show didn't win best musical I'll never understand. I mean these performances choreography the scenic choreography direction did I mention the performances the costumes. I had a bit of time and it's still lives on! Someone already said thank you. Mr. bootlegger from 1983. I have just moved to New York then eventually I ended up on Broadway myself. It was because it shows like this, that my black ass was able to be on Broadway and aspire to be!
We always compliment and praise the women in the show but the men are equally as amazing, just different material. Jimmy (Cleavant Derricks) and Curtis (Ben Harney) are incredible, both Tony winners for the show, too and CC White (Obba Babbatunde) is exceptional. And don't get me started on how under-rated Loretta Devine was....Lorrell was REAL, and "Ain't My Party" was just as much an act two showstopper as "I Am Changing" is for Effie. The direction/staging is also exceptional, never seen before or since. The other unsung hero of this production is the audio/sound mixer....the mix, the blends, etc...are extremely difficult to maintain but it is always clear when they are "performing" versus acting (ex: "One Night Only" - disco version that cuts between performance/internal dialogue, and narration).
I did twice. First without Holiday ( understudy Sheila Ellis as good ), later with Holiday. I was lucky in those days. Now, not so much! Lol....or cry out loud... ;)
Such a shame that the Original Broadway Cast Recording wasn't a double album capturing the entire show. Most people who only know the show through that or the movie wouldn't get the sense of just how dynamic the original production was. I remember listening to the 2001 Concert version that was a double CD and captured the entire performance and being amazed that it was almost fully sung-through. You get a much better sense of the energy and staging from it.
I agree! I couldn't believe how much was missing from the original Broadway cast album. They did release an updated version in 2006 that included three songs not on the original release: "Driving Down The Strip," "It's All Over," and the reprise of "Dreamgirls" at the end with Holliday singing the lead. Until I heard the Dreamgirls In Concert CDs I never knew the big blowout scene of "It's All Over," which leads right into Holliday's show stopping "And I am Telling You (I'm Not Going)." I finally understood why that song was called "And I am..." since it was Effie's response to them singing to her "And we're telling you, it's all over!" From what I heard, I think it was David Geffen or maybe that was for the Sparkle soundtrack but the powers that be didn't want to release a double album back then because #1 people didn't like buying double albums because they cost more money and I'm not sure if it was the Beatles or Donna Summer who hit number 1 with a double album (Beatles White album?), but I know that Summer had the distinction of being the first artist to have 3 double albums go to #1 (Live & More, Bad Girls, On The Radio) one after the other. And also they didn't want to spend the extra money making a double album with three relatively unknown performers like Ralph, Devine, and Holliday, were at the time. But I am hopeful. Some how they found those 3 songs and put them in on the 2006 release, so where did those come from? I'm hoping that even though they didn't release the entire soundtrack maybe they recorded it and those are somewhere. If nothing else, sooner or later technology will be so great, maybe even now that someone can actually take the sound track from this bootleg and digitally clean it up to pristine condition. I'm trying to do that but I have no experience in sound remastering other than the things I learned tinkering around with Sound Edit and now Audacity. I also heard that all Broadway shows (maybe not all but the hits) were recorded on film so that future productions can watch it and keep it the same way. If that's true than they can lift the audio from that and create a complete soundtrack. I did take "I'm Looking For Something" from here and put the version from the Concert together and once I matched it up the notes and the tempo and everything else was almost exactly the same, so when you play it on Audacity the two separate tracks blend together perfectly. I was just seeing if I could cover up the warped part of the audio on here on that track, I didn't think it would work but for that instance it did. Unfortunately when the part comes up with Marty talking to the two back up singers that quit Jimmy Early ("Marty you know I can talk well, Marty you watch me walk") that was maybe a fraction of a second too fast or too slow so it creates an echo. But I'm glad we have this even though it isn't pristine. At least we can hear the originals and I never realized how much Loretta Devine's vocals contributed to the songs I always thought it was Jennifer that we're hearing, not that she doesn't have a strong steel belted vocal, but it's Loretta's voice ringing behind Ralph's, as it blends with Holliday's, and allows Ralph's voice to float along theirs.
My wife and I had arguably our most thrilling night of all in years of going to the theatre when we saw Dreamgirls. We saw it in LA (at the now long-gone Shubert Theatre in Century City) when it arrived, one week into its long engagement here after winning the Tonys (the show was robbed of the best musical top award..does anyone remember or care about "Nine"??). Including "A Chorus Line", NOTHING topped the air of anticipation in the audience we felt that night. Holliday is was in perfect form, but she was also backed up by flawless performers and a big orchestra in the pit. Still, her voice sounded like it could blow out the back of the theatre. When the first act finale arrived, the audience started cheering and wouldn't stop for the entirety of the song. Holliday stayed in character and sang over the adulation. I have never had so many chills down my spine in such a compressed period of time. We could not believe what we were experiencing. We still relive that evening as a special, breathtaking memory. One of the top ten experiences of my life.
I saw it on broadway when I was eleven. At the end of act one I thought I was going to pass out -- chills on top of chills, it was like i was connected to a power grid. Never felt that much electricity in a theatre or anywhere.
Thank you for putting this up on youtube, EVERY BROADWAY SHOW NEEDS TO BE FILMED FOR THE FUTURE, It should be a requirement. SOOOOO much has been lost to time. Luckily the soundtrack will be forever, It opened in Boston, and I lived there. I asked my Mom and Dad to go. My mom said. 3 tickets are $100 "don't you think that's too much?" My dumb ass did not push. My worst Christmas was 2006 the day the movie opened. It was not playing in Rutland VT I saw a Dreamgirls Movie commercial during the 2006 Tony awards. Promising Opening Christmas Day. The 9 screen theatre did not show it. 1. Because it was a musical and 2. because it was about black people. I waited and saw it with my Mom and Dad in Boston. I kicked my Mom during the big numbers and said IS $100 for 3 tickets too much now? It took me 2 years after previews for me to get to NY front row Mezzanine I cried. Not kidding. I know this show, Word for word, and beat to beat. I could cry now typing this John Landau age 58. Today is Sunday Nov 17 th 2019
@@GalaxyNexus1 Do you know why? Is it really a union thing? For newer shows I might understand, Broadway would lose money. But the older shows, why? Or would it be like having an album and putting it on the internet for everyone to hear and no one would buy any more copies?
@@martinsorenson1055 because people need to be compensated for their work. You can't just take someone else's property and distribute it as you please. It's no different than going into a movie theater and filming every movie than posting it on RU-vid. Not only do writers, creators and Producers hold rights, but professional performers, also are compensated (and deserve to be) for the distribution of their work.
Nell Carter was in the workshop for Dreamgirls before Jennifer Holliday. She was supposed to play Effie but she got her role in Gimme a Break and couldn't do the production.
I do! I saw the original so many times the cast knew me. I have photos with them from 30 years ago! (I have met each one personally and actually had lunch with Jennifer Holiday in 2004 - I was a manager at a luxury hotel in NYC where she came to stay so that was easy and lucky!) Remember, this was years before there were any lotteries for cheap front row tickets like today. The original closed in 1985 and a weak scaled down version was revived in 1987. I then followed the tour to Toronto, Washington, and Boston. Saw it at every possible theater in the tri-state area. THEN IT DISAPPEARED and DG was not heard of for years. Then in 2002 I got to see the 20th Anniversary Benefit Concert and that was great to relive. In 2004 I flew to Pittsburgh to see Frenchie Davis play Effie. Then the film in 2006 gave it new life (critiquing the film is another conversation!) Saw it at the Apollo Theater in NYC with Syesha Mercado (from American Idol) as Deena. Just saw it in Las Vegas last month. Dreamgirls will go on and on for me....
I saw this show 12 times when it came out. I took everyone to see it when they visited me when I lived in New York City. Since 1973 when I saw my first Broadway show I have probably seen over 350 broadway shows. countless off-Broadway. Tours and reviews. Dreamgirls still holds my #1 spot. The music, the staging,the BRILLIANT Choreography the cast, etc. Eeverything was so dynamic when it opened it SHOOK the Broadway community and almost 40 years later it still has not been matched in my honest opinion. The Movie was very good as was the cast and during the 80s I did hear that there had been some rumors of a movie with possibly Whitney Houston as Deena, Anita Baker as Lorrell and Jennifer Holliday as Effie but it never got developed. Although this recording is ROUGH! It still brings tears to my eyes as it makes me remember that every time I saw Jennifer Holliday sing " And Im telling you" at the end of Act 1 she stopped the show as the audience lost there minds. I have never ever seen or experienced anything like that again on Broadway or in London or any theater anywhere! Im thankful to of seen that and I wish her career had been longer. Thank you Michael Bennett for another amazing show to inspire performers everywhere.
Seeing Steppin to The Bad Side makes me wonder if Michael saw this musical. Seen a couple things from Smooth Criminal video/live performance in there as well as Dangerous.
This is such a gift. Truly grateful for the time you took to record and update. This musical, this story means so much to me. I wish I coulda been there! 💖
I did see this when i was younger, my grandmother took us to all the live shows. This is a wonderful trip down memory lane for me!! A million thanks for posting this!!! If only someone had The Wiz broadway show with Michael Jackson and Stephanie Mills I would be in heaven on earth :)
I was knee-high to a grasshopper when this came out but heard so many stories from family members of how amazing the show was. Thank you for bestowing this gem upon us, absolutely loved it!!
As awesome as everything J Holiday sings in this show is...her voice is (for me) the absolute BEST when she sings "You Never Believed in Me". Something about those few soft lines gets me every single time...she picks right back up where she left off with "And I Am Telling You" and claims her victory. THAT'S how you develop an already strong character!
“I went out and made it on my own and not I have the best friend I’ve ever known” slightly mirrors “you’re the best man I’ve ever known” from and I am telling you .. it’s brilliantly written. Another theme comes to mind with Lorel her’s was “party” with her arch ending with “ain’t no party”
@@StellarAvenger Omg I would love to have it!! No matter what quality wish I knew where to look, I’m a Trader so I colllect musical bootlegs and haven’t found anything for OBP of “The Wiz” except opening night audio.
Why didn't I insist on going to see this after my Adlai E Stevenson High School Graduation in The Boogie Down Bronx, back in June 1982 ~ Hindsight Vision is Always 20/20!
I get so many goosebumps just from this, imagine being there. And the production is a machine it moves so slick scene to scene, this show was truly ahead of its time. I still do not understand why no revival, i don't want a carbon copy, but the simplicity with eye catching moments, movement and understated stage movement is so wonderful.
BRAVO! BRAVISSIMO! THANK YOU!!! The world of new musical lovers owe you a hearty BRAVO!! for having the big cojones to film this historical musical, particularly because actor's Equity and their dictatorial rules absolutely forbid it. What a joy to revisit this experience and to rediscover the treasure performance of the great Jennifer Holiday, who owns the role forever. I recall I saw it while on holiday season and bought a ticket to a Matinee, I planned on seeing another show in the evening and wound up going to the I recall the Imperial Theatre box office again and saw the evening performance. I had to see Holiday again. I needed to. Thank you again for the great contribution you have given the world.
We really underestimate how huge Jennifer Holliday's career was in the 80s because of Dreamgirls. Everywhere you looked, everything you read, everything you saw she was performing or winning an award or being interviewed.
I saw this as a child in the single digits. By then the original cast was no longer playing the role. THANK YOU for capturing this treasure. This is amazing!!
Firstly thank you for uploading this it’s really a gift to be able to watch this! I’m currently working on remastering this video to better quality it will take some time but I promise you it will be worth the wait. Also I’m working on fixing up a pro-shot from this production it’s actually in pretty good state but it could use some audio remastering and quality fixing so I’ll be remastering these things and hopefully I can share them with everyone.
so just watch dream girls movie AGAIN, but had never seen the original. of course i would find it here and wow! the movie really stuck with a lot of the original outside of Jimmy and drugs and a few other small plots. even some direct quotes! this was awesome, thank you for posting.
I know the entire songbook since 1982. I played the album on my record player all the time. My parents saw it on Broadway and I was so mad they didn't take me. Like hello!?! I was always miss broadway... but they played me :-( I was only 5yo went it came to Broadway. I love the commercials, just to get a glimpse of the fabulousness! I'm black, and seeing this on tv for 15 seconds, was everything!!!!
yes I can relate to you I was 10 years old when Dreamgirls hit broadway I only lived across the water in Jersey only 10 min ride path train and I would beg my mother everytime we would go to NYC shopping I would see the billboard and get excited beg her to get tickets but she never did so this video is the closest i could get to see
Michael Bennett should have never cut the Act II Press Conference. From what I read, he was never happy with its staging and so he cut it after doing revisions for the LA production. It’s a shame he did because it provided a lot of backstory and tension of what was going on between Act I and Act II. If they never do a Broadway revival, it should be restored.
@@bradleyscarton3931 I agree! It also makes Deena’s line “How many times, Oh Effie, how many times I’ve wanted to see you” seem more genuine with that context provided in the press conference.
I love that this been made available to us! I was too young to see the original cast on Broadway, and I live on the west coast in Canada so pretty far away, but getting to see the original cast in such good quality is everything!! I’ve been a fan since the movie, which I’ve watched way more times than I can count over the years, including all the extras on the extended adition. If they ever bring the play back to Broadway I’m doing whatever I’ve gotta do to go! Everyone who knows me knows Dreamgirls is my favourite movie! And of course my favourite musical! I saw a local production here a few years ago which was really awesome! I love seeing all the other super Dreamgirls fans in this comment section!!
Having the opportunity to see this masterpiece again was truly a dream. For two and a half hours I was back in 1983. I even danced with my phone in hand. lol One night only!!!
I can't stop making comments... I heard Will Smith was thought of to be cast in the Curtis role - I'm not sure if he had the voice to sing that part. I was a bit disappointed with his singing in Aladdin TBH. And Eddie Murphy was ROBBED of the oscar for his performance in the movie. He was outstanding!!! One of the best choreographed parts in the movie was "Step into the Bad Side" it was AWESOME!!!
I forgot to add it was a crying shame Jennifer Holliday wasn't invited to make a cameo in the Movie version. So sad!!! She comments about it in an interview. She MADE Dreamgirls what it is and was!!!
It is nuts...if you were going to get only one of the originals to make a Cameo, it should have been Jennifer Holiday for sure...or you shoulda got all 3...
She did NOT make Dreamgirls. There were MANY talented people who made the show. Michael Bennet's brilliant staging and his choreography, along with Michael Peters made the show, as did the brilliant costumes, and score. It is STUPID to credit Holliday alone. Ridiculous. It opened in Dec. 1981 and she missed SO many performances. I had to go three times to FINALLY see her and she did less than 200 performances and the show ran over 1500. For me, Loretta Devine stole the show because as volcanic as Holliday's singing was, she could not act.
So many people in this show with solid talent: Jennifer Hudson, Ben Harney - both Tony winners. And the execution. Just dynamite!! Saw it twice. Loved it both times. And special thanks to Henry Krieger and Harold Wheeler. Indeed!!!!
I'd love to have been alive during the original run to see the live performance of this production. I saw the unsung episode and to learn that it was basically popularized and supported by high profile black entertainers during it's Broadway timeframe means it was THE be best show in town and something to not miss out on. Thanks for uploading this and allowing me the chance to witness history.🙏🔥✌
This production was not perceived as a "Black musical" -- much like the music it celebrates, it was a "crossover" musical. I saw it several times on Broadway and the audience was always mixed, EVERYONE celebrating it regardless of skin color. The Director (Michael Bennett) often gave interviews talking about the mixed cast, mixed creatives, etc. It was a production WAY AHEAD of society.
Saw this on Broadway in 1982. It was an absolutely thrilling experience. Michael Bennett's staging was stunning, the entire cast was amazing and of course, Ms. Holiday was simply mind-blowing.
Thank you for posting this and giving me a glimpse of what I missed. Also, I don’t believe enough is said about Loretta Divine’s performance (in my opinion). I wish more was said about this cast I general, this was wonderful.
It is a highlight but it made sense to cut it from the film. A film is linear and a minor character having a big moment is very disruptive to the storytelling.
@@NickyMay16 the issue is it being cut is the main thing that makes Lorell seem like a minor character, which she shouldn't. The fact that Anika auditioned with it is even more frustrating
@user-sh4mv3tc3r it could've been made whatever way as film can be stylized but musicals are a harder sell in live action films opposed to stage or even animation. Dreamgirls mainly had diegetic musical numbers usually taking place on stage or in studios except for maybe family and a few lines like "effies gonna win". A real shame they went for a far more grounded adaptation as it lost most of the magic of the musical.
It just dawned on me. I know it really had to hurt coming from her boyfriend and best friends to leave and move on without her. But her family, I mean her brother not only left but ended up in a serious relationship with the woman who replaced her in the group. Yikes ! 😬
I'm still trying to figure out why Curtis bothered dating Effie in the first place when he was crushing on Deena from the start. Did he ever truly have feelings for Effie?
@@singer2be256 He used Effie....he was a slick car salesman (literally) and got what he needed from her then moved her OUT. Ben Harney won a Tony Award as Best Actor for his performance as, like Effie, the audience loved him AND hated him. He was smooth, sexy, dangerous, and cruel. The audience, again like Effie, was wrapped around his finger. Terrific character.
This is by far my favorite Musical of all time! I saw it with Jennifer Holliday and also the stand by and it was spectacular!!! I wish they would have recorded this professionally to enjoy for years to come. I was disappointed with the Movie version how they left out the scene and the song "I knew you were married when I met you.."" They also shortened "I am changing" in the movie version too. I think they could have done without some of the newer songs created for the movie. I didn't know that in the original version Effie's role ended in the first half after her dramatic song. I found out Jennifer Holliday had to advocate for Michael Bennett to rewrite her role in the second half. What a great job he did!
I am so amazed by your channel - THANK YOU for sharing these priceless videos - as someone who has never seen a live production on Broadway, I am so grateful!
Thank you for commenting so nicely, Check out my Michael Bennett & his Musicals FB group, as many luminaries are in there and lots of rarities posted. facebook.com/groups/167353876624927/
I flew from the uk to New York specifically to see this show. On the same trip I also flew to LA and saw it there. Linda Leilani-Brown was a STUNNING Deena Jones. She played it just like it was Diana Ross. Great show...
Happy 40th Anniversary DREAMGIRLS! If you’ve never watched this, you’re welcome. I wish I could’ve been alive to witness this iconic show when it made its debut - but this makes up for it. 😍
This upload is so appreciated as someone who was born in 1999 and would've never had a chance to see this live with this cast. Bless you for this!!! Ive watched it three times already 😂
I saw the touring company back when years ago only wish I had seen the original back in the early 1980’s. It was considered a big deal when it came to Broadway and the talks was huge about Ms Holiday, who I heard was only 19 when she was discovered in her local church. I recall the summer of 1982, the record company releasing the ‘I’m Not Going” song and it was on heavy rotation on RnB radio that summer. We have the single on 45 and my mother played it too death back then!! It was nice to hear more of Loretta Devine’s voice in this. How come no one is talking about the men featured in this great musical?! They guy that played CC was also the man who used to be married to NEIL CARTER’S character on Gimme A Break and years later was on appeared on a Soap Opera and episode of friends....🤔 . The guy Jimmy was seen in a lot of movies and on television as well. He has been seen in many roles over years and I had no idea he started off as singer on Broadway until I saw the video of the Tony’s Awards show from 1983. Okay. She was tame in this performance because JH showed her you know what off on the TONY’S AWARDS IN 1983. She gave the audience a big old sock 2 you and let everyone know what her voice was capable of!!