Earlier in November, I attended the very first preview of the West End Debut of Dreamgirls at the Savoy Theatre. When the producers announced Amber Riley (Glee) would be starring as Effie White I knew I had to get a ticket right away. I went to the Glee tour years and years ago and Amber performed the iconic ‘And I Am Telling You’ on the tour. I was so excited to see how she would interpret the character.

Dreamgirls follows Effie, Deena and Lorell – the Dreams- at the start of their career all the way through to stardom, over a period of about 12 years.* All three actresses work incredibly well together. In fact the entire company do. I’ve never been to a first show that was so brilliantly polished. My hands started to hurt from all the clapping I was doing!

As well as the main three leading ladies, we also meet Jimmy Early (played outstandingly by Adam J Bernard – definitely one to watch) who the girls first tour with. Jimmy is the definition of an absolutely hilarious showman and I enjoyed watching him every minute he was on stage. Another stand out was Joe Aaron Reid as the Dreams’ manager Curtis Taylor Jr. I’m so thrilled that people get to see Joe in this show. I absolutely adored him as Benny in In The Heights and it’s so great to see him in a completely different role. I loved every single acting choice. The way Curtis was with Effie compared to the slightly sinister way he would be with Deena – everything was fantastic and I’m so happy Joe is doing more shows in London!

It is an absolute masterpiece of a show. And I can’t wait to go back time & time again. Casey Nicholaw is a musical theatre genius of a director especially with smash out shows like The Book of Mormon & Aladdin under his belt. From the lighting to the staging to the dazzling costumes, you really don’t want to miss this fantastic show.

Dreamgirls is currently booking to Saturday 6th May 2017. You can find more information at http://www.dreamgirlswestend.com/

Until next time,

*Thanks Jade!