Dreamgirls At Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield Review

Reviewed by Angela Savage

For those of you who don’t know about – or haven’t watched the West End production of Dreamgirls, which opened in 1981 and subsequently won six Tony awards, the show centres around three friends who embark upon a musical rollercoaster ride through fame, fortune, and the ruthless realities of show business, testing their friendship to the limit. The original cast recording won Grammy awards for ‘Best Musical Album’ and ‘Best Vocal Performance’ for ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’.

Set in 1962 Detroit, Michigan, young car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. meets a girl group known as “The Dreamettes”, which consists of lead singer Effie White and backup singers Deena Jones and Lorrell Robinson, at an R&B amateur talent show at the Detroit Theatre. Presenting himself as their new manager, he recruits the girls as backup singers for R&B star Jimmy “Thunder” Early. Their rise to fame is engineered by him, and he swaps feisty lead singer Effie for the softer sounding Deena. The changing dynamic tests their friendships to the very limits, with hearts broken and dreams destroyed along the way.

It’s a powerful story of how music can sell its soul to greed and about the artistic compromises forced on black composers and performers if they wanted to swim in the mainstream at the time. The powerful message shines throughout the production and the cast make the show what it is – a musical phenomenon!
The whole cast dazzles as much as The Dreams’ sequin-covered dresses and feather boas; effortlessly delivering spectacular vocals, amazing high energy choreography and some speedy costume changes. The costumes and wigs are incredible- there’s even a Head of Wigs!

All of the performers are incredible singers and there isn’t a note that’s not perfect; there’s no doubt that Nicole Raquel Dennis steals the show as Effie White. With her rich, powerful voice filling every inch of the auditorium, she left jaws dropping on the floor during her spine-tingling performance of the musical’s biggest hitting song, ‘And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going.’ You could hear audible gasps from the audience when she sang, and you could hear a pin drop a she reached her crescendo. The audience were on their feet for a standing ovation even before she finished the performance for the first half of the show.

The whole production is full of fantastic music including ‘I Am Changing’, ‘Listen’ and ‘One Night Only’. I also really loved the all male ensemble performance of ‘ Steppin’ to the badside’ that featured the main male performers and the cast, who put together a brilliantly choreographed and energetic dance routine, which when combined with the music was very entertaining and enjoyable.

Brandon Lee Sears’ performance as larger-than-life soul singer Jimmy Early also deserves a mention. His energy and vibrancy when on the stage was wonderful and he captured completely what you’d imagine a performer at the time to be like. He won the biggest laughs of the night with his outrageously flirty persona, while also representing frustrations that come from catering to white audiences for the sake of commercial success.

The goodbye song at the end of the production includes all of the members of the group, and I loved the cast members in the background performing as the girls throughout their time in the ‘Dreams’, showing them from the very beginning to the final performance.

This show is a wonderful ride through the world of 1960s soul and glitz and glamour come by the lorry load. It offers a message of empowerment as we see each of the female leads stand up to the men who have controlled their lives and unite as one powerful unit. A must-see.

Rating: 4.5/5

Tickets from £15-£65

Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield from 8th March 2022- 19th March 2022.

For more information or to book tickets visit https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/dreamgirls or call the box office on 01142496000

55 Norfolk Street, Sheffield, S1 1DA