Did Eddie Murphy do his own singing in Dreamgirls?
Who was the composer of Dreamgirls on Broadway?
Beyoncé Knowles
In 2006, she played May, the mother of Deena Jones, portrayed by Beyoncé Knowles in the feature film version of Dreamgirls. She also appeared in an episode of the sitcom The King of Queens as Mrs. Blanchard in the episode “Road Rayge”….
Broadway. Dreamgirls premiered on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981, and closed on August 11, 1985, after 1,521 performances. Dreamgirls proved to be a star-making vehicle for several of its performers, particularly Holliday, whose performance as Effie received significant praise.
Holliday’s performance was in honor of the 40th anniversary of the Broadway show, in which she originated the role of Effie White in 1981. The actress earned a Tony Award for her Dreamgirls performance. In 1982, and the same year she won her trophy, Holliday performed the same song to a similarly boisterous response.
The musical starred Jennifer Holliday as Effie White, Sheryl Lee Ralph as Deena, and Loretta Devine as Lorell—the trio at the center of it all—breakout roles for each. The original production opened December 20, 1981, at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre.
The movie ends with the Dreams’ farewell concert. All four dreams (the original three plus Effie’s replacement) sing the final song of the night together. From his box seat, Curtis sees that Effie is singing her solo to a 9-year-old girl in the orchestra.
In Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy plays James “Thunder” Early, a character who’s part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all Eddie Murphy. Like the rest of the cast, Eddie does all his own singing in the film, but even he admits that the pop albums he put out in the ’80s weren’t a good example of what he could do.
