Dreamgirls: Broadway Across America: Kelller Auditorium
Chris was loading in this show on Monday and Tuesday and decided he was so impressed with the technical set up and everything on Monday evening that he went and got us tickets to the show. He was very excited about the seats that he got, took a picture of the view from our seats while working on Tuesday so I would have a sneak peek. Hence why I was kind of disappointing about the ladies behind us and such, just see my last post if you want comments on that. Overall, though I do have to say I enjoyed the experience of the show.
The best parts of this show had to do with the technical elements, the music, and the costumes in my opinion. The performers were good at parts, but could have been better.
Some things I found disappointing were. The lyrics and the words just got lost in everything around them. This was especially clear in Moya Angela, as Effie, where I lost complete parts of songs as she was reaching for notes or acting and enunciation of the words. Then there was lots of performances piece that had a band playing for the singers. This turned into dancers with instruments choreographed on the stage. I could tell they were working hard and did add to the show, but the fake instruments and lack of usage of them was a bit distracting. They would be moving with the instruments, but just kind of holding the instruments up, never moving their fingers or anything like that to even make it look like they were making an effort with the instruments.
The amazing pars about this show is how well the music is built into the plot. It is the music that is moving the plot forward with this show, not the show moving with songs thrown in. Also, there are just amazing piece of music in this piece And I am Telling you I'm not Going, We are a Family and I am Changing are some that come to mind for me. The costumes were used really well in this piece I think to support the music and the movement. What the girls were very changed with their growth in the music industry and as they got older in the show, they went from conservative and kind of dowdy to more form fitting and looser, showing the changes the girls had to make to work in the industry. While the men kind of stayed in suites the whole time. One AMAZING costume moment came while Angela sang I am Changing . She goes from auditing for a night club position to singing for the night club. The spot zooms down to just Angela's face while she is still belting, the lights are out everywhere else on stage. Then a moment latter the spot widens and the lights come up on the piano again and Angela is in a completely different outfit, like pants suite to dress different, and she has been singing the whole time. It is a wow change.
The final thing that was great about this show is the technical aspect. There were 6 led wall screens that projection was done on the set scenes, they were turned to show on stage, off stage, and the wings. There was also a wall on either side of the stage, with around 200 lights on each one. They provided great side light, throwing in some color, and at one point swung around to face the audience (really bright but a cool effect). These items are why Chris wanted to see the show, they brought in more dimmers then there are lights in the room normally.
This was a fun show to see. I love the history of the show and it has emotion that you can follow, without the sappy happy ending. If you have a chance I would say go see Dreamgirls 'after all they make you happy and they always care'.