Dreamgirls Takes to the Stage!

 

 

 

 

“We’re your dreamgirls! Boys, we’ll make ya happy!” The music and moves from the original Broadway show and 2006 Academy Award–winning film Dreamgirls just don’t get old. Now, the show is being revived with new choreography by hip-hop master Shane Sparks. Dreamgirls debuted to rave reviews in Korea in February 2009 and will open at NYC’s Apollo Theater on Nov. 7. Here are four fun facts about Shane’s new choreography:

 

• Everything in the show is Shane’s style. Rather than using Michael Bennett’s 1981 choreography, Shane watched old Fosse videos for inspiration.

 

• The dancers move around the stage in a way that tricks the audience into thinking the stage itself is moving (which it isn’t).

 

• The movement in “Step Into the Bad Side” is militant. The dancers wear three-piece suits and throw briefcases around in patterns that look like a kaleidoscope if viewed from above.

 

• “One Night Only” utilizes three dance styles—house, disco and jazz—to create the ultimate showstopper!

 

 

 

Photo by Joan Marcus