Adrienne Warren, Syesha Mercado & Margaret Hoffman, Dreamgirls starts August 24, 2010
DREAMGIRLS
THIS SUMMER
NATIONAL TOUR OF THE SMASH HIT MUSICAL
WILL PLAY IN SAN FRANCISCO
AT THE CURRAN THEATRE
AUGUST 24 – SEPTEMBER 26, 2010
SAN FRANCISCO… The new production of DREAMGIRLS, the Tony Award winning-musical, will play the Curran Theatre in San Francisco, August 24 through September 26, 2010 as the final production of the 2009-2010 Citibank Best of Broadway series season under the direction of Carole Shorenstein Hays. This all-new production of DREAMGIRLS premiered at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater in New York City on November 22, 2009, before embarking on an international tour. Slideshow below. This adds to the summer offerings by SHN Theaters, currently including Beauty and the Beast, Young Frankenstein; and Peter Pan from London.
Beauty and the Beast Broadway musical comes to SF summer 2010
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Full of onstage joy and backstage drama, DREAMGIRLS tells the story of an up-and-coming,
1960s singing girl group, and the triumphs and tribulations that come with fame and fortune.
Hopeful talents Deena Jones, Lorrell Robinson and Effie White are performing as The Dreamettes when ambitious agent Curtis Taylor, Jr. discovers them. He lands them a job as backup singers for the soul and rock ‘n’ roll sensation James “Thunder” Early and begins to guide their quickly rising career. However, when the beautiful Deena emerges as the star of the group rather than the full-voiced Effie, the girls are brought to personal and professional crossroads.
DREAMGIRLS will introduce Moya Angela as Effie White and feature, as The Dreams, Syesha Mercado as Deena Jones, Adrienne Warren as Lorrell Robinson, and Margaret Hoffman as Michelle Morris with Chaz Lamar Shepherd as Curtis Taylor, Jr., Chester Gregory is James “Thunder” Early, Trevon Davis as C.C. White, Milton Craig Nealy as Marty Madison in a cast of 26 that also features Tallia Brinson, Felicia Boswell, Ronald Duncan, Patrice Covington, Talitha Farrow, Brittney Griffin, James Harkness, Robert Hartwell, Eric Jackson, Chauncey Jenkins, Jared Joseph, Nikki Kimbrough, Brittany Lewis, Douglas Lyons, Kimberly Marable, Jarran Muse, Amaker Smith and Marc Spaulding.
DREAMGIRLS is directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom with co-choreography by Shane Sparks, set design by Robin Wagner, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Acme Sound Partners, and media design by Howard Werner for Lightswitch. DREAMGIRLS features music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen with additional material by Willie Reale.
The original Broadway production of DREAMGIRLS opened December 20, 1981, at the Imperial Theatre and won six Tony Awards and three Drama Desk Awards in 1982. It closed on Broadway August 11, 1985, after 1,521 performances. The original Broadway production was directed by Michael Bennett and choreographed by Bennett and Michael Peters. DREAMGIRLS was adapted into a motion picture by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, and opened in December 2006. The film won two Academy Awards, five Golden Globes, and two Screen Actor’s Guild Awards in 2007 in addition to a Grammy Award for Best Song written for a Motion Picture (“Love You I Do”). The most popular song from the film, “Listen,” has been incorporated into the new stage version of DREAMGIRLS as a stirring Act II duet for Deena and Effie.
American Idol and Jennifer Hudson
Note actress Jennifer Hudson who played Effie in the 2006 film became a spokesmodel for Weight Watchers and looks as spectacular as Beyonce, albeit unrecognizeable. Jennifer had competed on American Idol.
To experience what goes on backstage at SHN shows, go to http://shnsf.com/podcast/index.asp and listen to Backstage, the SHN podcast series, to hear interviews with members of the creative teams or actors for all SHN productions.
Tickets for DREAMGIRLS will range in price from $30 to $99 and are currently only available
by subscribing to the 2009-2010 Best of Broadway season by visiting shnsf.com or calling
(415) 551-2050. Groups of 15 or more may call Group Sales for information at (415) 551-2020.
To learn more about DREAMGIRLS and other SHN shows, please visit www.shnsf.com
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
TUE – SAT @ 8PM
WED, SAT & SUN @ 2PM
SHN is the pre-eminent theatrical entertainment company in San Francisco and owns and operates the Curran, Orpheum and Golden Gate Theatres—San Francisco’s premier theatrical venues. SHN’s Best of Broadway theater series provides Bay Area audiences with pre-Broadway world premieres, original Broadway cast productions, award-winners and current hits fresh from Broadway. Click here:
For information on all SHN shows, please visit shnsf.com.
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