Review: Dreamgirls

It’s a story of a black girl group of the 1960s (think the Supremes) that started as backup singers known as the Dreamettes and graduated to stardom as the Dreams with Effie White (Charity Dawson) (cq both) as soulful lead singer, then ultimately to Deena Jones and the Dreams.

But keep your eyes and ears focused on the character of the resilient Effie, the emotional heart of “Dreamgirls.” Effie gets pushed off to the side then pushed out of the group.

The musical is about the bright lights of the group’s touring and their celebrity, the meanness and racism of show business for the re-formed Dreams, and the protracted, failing romances of three of the singers – Effie, Deena (Jasmin Richardson) and Lorrell Robinson (Mary Searcy). Michelle (Kimberly Michelle Thomas) is Effie’s replacement.

	“Dreamgirls” WHEN: 8 p.m. today, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16 and 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 17 WHERE: Popejoy Hall, Center for the Arts, UNM campus HOW MUCH: $ 35-$75 depending on performance. Tickets available in advance at ticket offices in the UNM Bookstore and the Pit, at www.unmtickets.com, at select area Albertsons supermarkets and at the door.

The group’s manager, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Aubrey Poo) makes the harsh business decision that Deena should be the leader because she’s thin and the reconstituted group needs a smoother sound(code for acceptable to white listeners; soul music isn’t).

With Effie out of the picture, Curtis turns his romantic and business attention to the svelte Deena. But when Deena wants to take a break from touring to make a movie. Her dream collides with Curtis’ dream for her. Woven into the musical are the similar musical struggles of soul singer James “Thunder” Early (Michael Jahlil) who Lorrell is fed up with; seven years later and she’s still only his girlfriend.

It is a treat to hear Dawson sing the part of Effie, especially in her Act I heart-breaking closer “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” and in the song, “One Night Only,” a declaration of her return. The musical tells Effie’s story of love lost, of single motherhood, of her reconciliation and of redemption as the powerful soul singer that she was, and still is.

Thanks to her once-estranged composer- brother C.C. White (Terrance Johnson), Effie makes her statement singing his song “One Night Only” and turning it into a hit single. Even then she and her brother compete with Curtis and the Dreams over whose version wins out.