WWW.DANCING-TIMES.CO.UK • FEBRUARY 2017 • 47Photographs: BRINKHOFF – MÖEGENBURG.

DreamgirlsBy Barbara Newman

story about friendship between ordinary people who happen to be black.

Of all their intentions, only the period atmosphere and the music remain effective. The plot hasn’t changed: the friends disappoint each other as they climb toward success; Effie leaves the trio when Curtis, its manager, promotes Deena to the solo spot; Deena dumps her stultifying marriage to Curtis to make her own decisions. But the book has no life except to frame and justify the songs, which emerge as a spectacularly staged concert.

The show’s original director-choreographer, Michael Bennett, claimed he loved backstage musicals because “When you have characters… who are singers and dancers, it’s easier to get them to sing and dance than it is when a dentist is the hero.” This time the double-barrelled job fell to Casey Nicholaw, along with a “backstage” narrative about artists who only stood still offstage. In that era, you couldn’t separate the allure of their music from its moves. Back-up groups adopted smooth, simple choreography, developed for Motown in Detroit by Cholly Atkins, a former dancer, to underscore songs without upstaging the soloists. Inimitable soul singers such as James Brown punctuated their hell-raising with explosive physicality.

A solo performer steps onstage and meets a burst of applause.

The opening bars of a song raise the same response: instant recognition, instant welcome. Over the years, this impetuous conduct has taken root at pop concerts; wild anticipation greets Justin Bieber today just as it once greeted The Beatles.

Audiences at musicals don’t usually behave that way. Correction: audiences at musicals didn’t usually behave that way – now, they do. The jubilant crowd I encountered at Dreamgirls at London’s Savoy Theatre already knew the show, probably from the 2006 film, and already knew its star, Amber Riley, from the recent TV series Glee. The young American sitting alone beside me knew every note of every song because she had grown up with the cast album of the original 1981 production. “My mother saw it on her 18th birthday, with her mother,” she explained. “It’s my 21st, so my mother bought me a ticket. She’s here too, but way upstairs.”

With a book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger, the show inspiring their excitement shadows three black girls whose singing leads them to fame. The plot, loosely based on the rise of the Supremes, advances from 1962 to 1972, following rhythm and blues out of the ghetto and into the musical mainstream. The authors insisted they hadn’t written a “black musical” in which race itself plays a major role but a dramatic

Top right: The cast of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre. Bottom right: Adam J Bernard with Ibinabo Jack, Amber Riley and Liisi LaFontaine.

Best of all, as the James Brown look-alike Jimmy Early, Adam J Bernard moves as if his arrogant strut, jittery feet and streetwise attitude produce his music. Though Riley’s astounding voice may be the show’s biggest draw, I’d be content with Bernard’s performance and Nicholaw’s choreographic ingenuity any day.

Incidentally, thanks to amplification, which arrived in Broadway musicals in 1940, Dreamgirls, sometimes called Screamgirls, deafens us with live voices that sound pre-recorded. But at a press screening years ago, Jennifer Hudson, whose Effie stole the movie from Beyoncé’s Deena, sang without warm-up, accompaniment or microphone, and believe me, this whole production put together can’t match the impact of those few memorable moments. n

Through TV shows such as American Bandstand and Hullabaloo, Atkins’ easygoing style spread well beyond Motown – anyone who’s seen Jersey Boys will recognise it – while the music it accompanied launched one dance craze after another. Like a kid in a candy store, Nicholaw has snapped up every gesture that flourished with this music and made it so danceable, devising choreography that sweeps through the evening of spangles, chiffon, predictable sentiments and roof-raising music with propulsive energy.

Watch closely. In his dazzling survey of popular trends you can spot snatches of the Frug, Bugaloo, Stroll and Swim. He’s raided discotheques for the Pony, Mashed Potato and Twist, and borrowed the jitterbug and Lindy Hop from clubs. Adding swaying hips to a step-touch phrase and languidly outflung arms, he nails the trio’s initial unobtrusive options, and “Steppin’ to the Bad Side”, the only full-fledged dance number, builds a dangerous prowling momentum out of slouches and slides.

Variety Lights - Feb.indd 47 18/01/2017 10:04