In Which We See Dreamgirls
Oct. 22nd, 2018 09:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aDreamgirls opened our final full season with the Berkeley Playhouse. We saw it yesterday, its last day showing.
I knew that Dreamgirls was about the emergence of a female music group in the 60s and 70s, but I'd been expecting a kind of feel good musical about women making their mark on their world and finding success. Instead, we got something much deeper.
For one, I was surprised to find out that it was really about the black experience in the music world, and the extreme compromises that required. We also got a great tour through the influence of black music on the mainstream in this time period, focusing on R&B and soul, but also touching upon doo-wop, taking a large detour through funk, then ending with disco. There was even a pretty terrific showdown between soul and disco versions of the same song toward the end. (Soul won, suggesting that compromise wasn't always needed.)
I was also surprised to discover how closely the story of the "Dreams" in the musical followed the career of the very-real Supremes. This meant there was a lot less of the feel-good and much more of the very real portrayal of the problems implicit in a touring band, as an early member is thrust out despite her superior voice and others rise up, as affairs and payola complicate everything, as varying dreams lead to heartbreak and bold new directions.
The songs were generally strong. There was also a great conceit early in the musical where songs would develop out of conversation into musical numbers and then would be repeated as musical numbers sung by Jimmy Early and the Dreamettes. "Cadillac Car" and "Steppin' to the Bad Side" both developed like this; the latter was my favorite song in the play. I also adored the Jimmy and the Dreamette song sung in Miami where they try very hard to sing to a white audience, but eventually move back to their natural sound. (Jimmy similarly descends into full funk in a late song.)
Overall, a strong musical with lots of good songs that were also different from what we usually hear.
A nice article about the musical trend: The Real Dreamgirls.
I knew that Dreamgirls was about the emergence of a female music group in the 60s and 70s, but I'd been expecting a kind of feel good musical about women making their mark on their world and finding success. Instead, we got something much deeper.
For one, I was surprised to find out that it was really about the black experience in the music world, and the extreme compromises that required. We also got a great tour through the influence of black music on the mainstream in this time period, focusing on R&B and soul, but also touching upon doo-wop, taking a large detour through funk, then ending with disco. There was even a pretty terrific showdown between soul and disco versions of the same song toward the end. (Soul won, suggesting that compromise wasn't always needed.)
I was also surprised to discover how closely the story of the "Dreams" in the musical followed the career of the very-real Supremes. This meant there was a lot less of the feel-good and much more of the very real portrayal of the problems implicit in a touring band, as an early member is thrust out despite her superior voice and others rise up, as affairs and payola complicate everything, as varying dreams lead to heartbreak and bold new directions.
The songs were generally strong. There was also a great conceit early in the musical where songs would develop out of conversation into musical numbers and then would be repeated as musical numbers sung by Jimmy Early and the Dreamettes. "Cadillac Car" and "Steppin' to the Bad Side" both developed like this; the latter was my favorite song in the play. I also adored the Jimmy and the Dreamette song sung in Miami where they try very hard to sing to a white audience, but eventually move back to their natural sound. (Jimmy similarly descends into full funk in a late song.)
Overall, a strong musical with lots of good songs that were also different from what we usually hear.
A nice article about the musical trend: The Real Dreamgirls.