‘Dreamgirls’ To Return To Broadway In 2026 Following Global Search For Cast

Dreamgirls is being revived on Broadway in the fall of 2026.

As announced on Monday by its producers, the upcoming iteration will be directed and choreographed by Camille A. Brown, a five-time Tony nominee who made her Broadway directorial debut in 2022 with the revival of for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.

She also made history as the first Black woman to direct and choreograph a Broadway play since Katherine Dunham in 1955. Most recently, she’s choreographed Gypsy, which starred Audra McDonald, and Alicia Keys’ Hell’s Kitchen.

The new Dreamgirls is being produced by Sonia Friedman, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and the Tony-winning actress LaChanze. Friedman produced the British debut of Dreamgirls in London. That version starred Amber Riley as Effie White. LaChanze was part of the 1987 Broadway ensemble, which lasted for five months.

The cast for the show has not yet been announced considering auditions for “talented women of all shapes and sizes” will be held in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, London, Toronto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris.

The original production, starring Jennifer Holliday (Effie), Sheryl Lee Ralph (Deena), and Loretta Devine (Lorrell), opened on Dec. 20, 1981. It ran for nearly four years and won six Tony Awards, according to The New York Times. Holliday’s rendition is regarded as one of the best Tony Awards performances in history.

It was later adapted into a film in 2006 starring Beyoncé, Jennifer Hudson, Anika Noni Rose, Eddie Murphy, Keith Robinson, and Jamie Foxx. Hudson won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her breakout role as Effie White.