This year’s spring musical of “Dreamgirls” did not reflect the strong talent or ability of Southfield High School students.
The school’s performance of “Dreamgirls” had some stars who gave excellent performances and other participants who gave less than five-star effort.
The brightest star of the night was senior Jerica Jameson as Effie White. Jameson’s versions of the song “And I’m Telling You” was nicely in tune, with every note hit perfectly. Jameson also gave an award-winning acting performance.
Junior Franklin Fisher also gave a spectacular performance as Jimmy Early. Fisher brought a unique charisma to the stage and truly became Early in the way he walked, talked, sang and danced.
Several other stars gave Grammy-worthy performances. Derrick Terry as Curtis Taylor, Jr., and Ethan Coats as CeCe gave excelled when it came to dancing, acting and singing.
But other characters in the play should have been cast differently, and some cast members could have given stronger performances. A few lacked the range of skills that it takes to play the “Dreamgirls” characters.
The wardrobe of the characters was surprisingly good. The coordinated gowns and costumes looked as if they could have been in a professional performance of “Dreamgirls.”
The only shortcomings in wardrobe were the wigs. The wigs the Southfield Dreams wore were all very different from each other. They lacked the uniformity that the real actors in the play possessed.
The pit band was OK, but it was dominated by saxophone and drums and lacked the strong trumpet sound that is traditionally associated with the “Dreamgirls” instrumental music.
Dreamgirls was originally written by Laurence Mark in 1981. But it was popularly remade by DreamWorks Paramount pictures in 2006.
Overall, “Dreamgirls” was an OK play. It doesn’t compare to Hollywood’s version, but it was good for a high school production.