Bucks &amp; Oxon

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Back in 2019, if you were a fan of The Voice, you might recall a spine-tingling duet performed by a young contestant Nicole Raquel Dennis and Jennifer Hudson. They blasted out the song that Hudson made famous in the film version of Dreamgirls, &#8216;And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going&#8217;, where Hudson&#8217;s character refuses to accept her relationship with her unfaithful manager/boyfriend (Matt Mills as Curtis Taylor Jr) is over. If you have a spare minute, <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMxbrgoH0Cs" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMxbrgoH0Cs" target="_blank">check it out</a> it&#8217;s worth it!



Now skip forward to Dreamgirls the musical and its UK tour, which has just arrived in Oxford (performances until Sat 1 Oct) and guess who&#8217;s playing the JenHud role? You got it. Dennis&#8217; is name in lights, playing the big girl with the even bigger voice, having worked steadily in musical theatre since her Voice semi-final days, with West End roles in Dear Evan Hansen and Waitress). 



This is the first time that the national tour of Dreamgirls has shown in Oxford, but at last night&#8217;s première, it was the understudy Nicole Louise Lewis having her own dreamy moment, taking on the title role. Dennis will return so don&#8217;t worry if you bought tickets with her in mind though Lewis has a mighty set of pipes on her as well, with a pure tone and wide, effortless vocal range that sounded at its most impactful when she held back a little.



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If your&#8217;e not already familiar with the story, Dreamgirls is based loosely on the rise of the Supremes, when the beautiful but vocally-soft Diana Ross was encouraged by her boyfriend/manager (and founder of Motown records) Berry Gordy Jr, into the global limelight at the expense of the less TV-friendly Florence Ballard who eventually left the group. 



So though it&#8217;s a star vehicle for Dennis, it also relies heavily on a strong supporting cast of Natalie Kassanga as Deena Jones, thrust into the spotlight as the new lead singer, and Paige Peddie as Lorrell Robinson, the third member of the group. Both are excellent, Kassanga&#8217;s velvety delivery belying her own belting vocals, and Peddie&#8217;s smart comic timing and and soulful voice showing her full range. (Fun TV fact number two &#8211; Peddie, a Royal Academy of Music graduate, was the <a rel="noreferrer noopener" href="https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/paige_peddie/videos/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/paige_peddie/videos/" target="_blank">&#8216;Christmas Unexpected Star&#8217; </a>on Michael McIntyre&#8217;s show in 2019). 



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If you like your musicals fast and furious with songs, you&#8217;ll be happy &#8211; 27 numbers cascade over the audience over two halves, in a wave of sequins, floor length gowns and feather boas, with the vast majority handed to the Dreamettes (as they&#8217;re known early on) though &#8216;Steppin&#8217; to the Bad Side&#8217; is a great showcase for Matt Wills&#8217; as their intimidating manager Curtis Taylor Jr with his rich voice and dancing chops (he&#8217;s previously been a backing dancer for Nile Rogers, Craig David and Alexandra Burke). 



Pick of the show for me was Shem Omari James, providing much of the humour by hamming it up (and then some) as Jimmy Early, channelling the manic charm of Little Richard into his performance as the established star having a extra-marital relationship with Lorrell. The moment when he can no longer hide his &#8216;soul&#8217; while performing tame sets for white audiences and starts stripping off and showing his underpants in his excitement to perform is played perfectly for laughs before the pathos kicks in, his career in tatters, manager and girlfriend both gone.



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With so many bright lights and gorgeous dresses, a large ensemble cast dancing and acting, and the majority of the songs &#8216;performed&#8217; as if on a stage , the set design is wisely kept to a minimum &#8211; dressing tables slide on and off to show the dressing rooms, and backstage in the wings was shown with several floor to ceiling pieces of technical scaffolding (sorry, the description can&#8217;t get better than this!). There are podiums with lights and a glorious moment in set design when One Night Only is massacred by a beaming white polo-necked middle-aged man on a scallop podium covered in glitter. 



But the night belonged to the three Dreamgirls, with the audience on its feet by the end of the show, saluting Oxford&#8217;s new number one hit.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



Good for: Feel good seekers, Motown lovers, girl&#8217;s nights out. At 2 hours 30 mins you get great value for your buck.My 15 year old daughter absolutely loved it, but its appeal is broad enough for younger children too if you take the matinée route.



Not for: Almost all the dialogue is sing rather than spoken, so if you like your musicals to be drama with songs, rather than songs with drama, give it a swerve.



Dreamgirls, New Theatre Oxford, 24-26 George St, Oxford OX1 2AG. Tel: <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=dreamgirls+new+theatre+oxford&amp;oq=dreamgirls+new+theatre+oxford&amp;aqs=chrome.0.0i355i512j46i175i199i512j69i57j0i22i30j69i60l2.5853j0j7&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8#">0333 009 6690</a>. <a href="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/dreamgirls/new-theatre-oxford/" data-type="URL" data-id="https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/dreamgirls/new-theatre-oxford/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Book tickets from £13.50.</a>

Review: Dreamgirls at New Theatre, Oxford

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