It has been announced that Glee star Amber Riley will make her West End debut when Dreamgirls arrives at the Savoy Theatre from November 2016.
The UK premiere production of the Tony-Award winning musical will be directed by Casey Nicholaw and star Amber Riley as ‘Effie White’.
The American actress is best known for her role as Mercedes on the hit television show Glee and this production will her first performance on a West End stage when the show opens at the Savoy Theatre later this year.
Tickets for the production will go on sale in Spring with further cast and creative team yet to be announced.
Talking about the news Amber Riley said: “I am so honoured and excited to not only be playing such an iconic role, but also to be working with Sonia Friedman and Casey Nicholaw. Working on the West End is now a dream realised, I just feel like this is going to be something special!”
Meanwhile director and choreographer Casey Nicholaw echoed her words saying: “I am beyond thrilled to be directing and choreographing Dreamgirls in the West End. It was one of the first shows I saw when I moved to New York in 1982 and has been my favourite show ever since. We’ve begun to assemble a terrific cast of actors here in the UK. We also have a terrific design team lined up – it’s going to be a smart and sexy production.”
Inspired by R&B music acts in 1960s America, Dreamgirls transports you to a revolutionary time in American music history.Dreamgirls charts the tumultuous journey of a young female singing trio, from Chicago, Illinois called ‘The Dreams’, as they learn the hard lesson that show business is as tough as it is fabulous and features the classic songs ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’, ‘I Am Changing’ and ‘One Night Only’.
The production arrives in London thirty five years after the original Broadway production and features book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger, the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett opened in 1981 and subsequently won six Tony Awards®. It was then transformed for the big screen with an Oscar winning film starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx.
Dreamgirls will open at the Savoy Theatre from November 2016. Tickets will go on sale in the Spring. To keep up with all the latest news and ticket information visit: http://www.dreamgirlswestend.com/.