Dreamgirls, directed by Bill Condon, is a film of a 1981 Broadway musical that roughly seeks to portray the rise of pop music within the African American community in Detroit, though with entirely original music. The story, loosely based on the rise of the Supremes, shows the seamier side of the music business. When the film begins, a variety show is being performed to an African American audience in Detroit. The Dreamettes arrive late, but performers for one of the numbers have quit, so they are able to perform last. They are such a hit with the audience that Curtis Taylor, Jr., (played by Jamie Foxx) offers them a spot that very night with one of the biggest stars, James “Thunder” Early (played by Eddie Murphy), in a nightclub act. The time is the 1960s. Martin Luther King, Jr., has been in Detroit, and the historic time has arrived for Blacks to make breakthroughs in American society. However, to get Motown music aired on radio, Taylor must pay off disk jockeys. Taylor also decides to reconstitute the Dreamettes to open in a Miami nightclub, the first Black performers ever to do so, but Early’s manager Marty Madison (played by Danny Glover) is so upset about a performance before an audience that may not appreciate him that he quits. Indeed, Early’s antics prove to be an embarrassment for the Whites in Miami, so he is dropped. In another modification to please Whites, Taylor decides to feature slim Deena Jones (played by Beyoncé Knowles) as the lead singer of the group, but that is a demotion for Effie White (played by Jennifer Hudson), hitherto the lead singer with the most soulful voice. Love angles of various sorts add to the mix. Eventually, Taylor is in trouble with the law, Early dies at a young age, and love proves fragile. Alas, the fictionalization of the rise of Motown Records, based on the book by Tom Eyen, may be disappointing for those who have seen the earlier documentary on the subject, Standing in the Shadows of Motown (2002). MH
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