It was announced today thet Amber Riley will make her West End debut in the UK premiere of the Tony-Award winning Dreamgirls, which is to be presented at The Savoy Theatre from November 2016. Dreamgirls will be directed by Olivier and Tony-Award winning Casey Nicholaw.
Best known for her role as Mercedes Jones in the musical comedy sensation Glee, Riley will take on the iconic role of Effie White . Amber Riley says: “I am so honoured and excited to not only be playing such an iconic role, but also to be working with Sonia Friedman and Casey Nicholaw. Working on the West End is now a dream realised, I just feel like this is going to be something special!”
Inspired by R&B music acts in 1960s America, Dreamgirls transports you to a revolutionary time in American music history. Dreamgirls charts the tumultuous journey of a young female singing trio, from Chicago, Illinois called ‘The Dreams’, as they learn the hard lesson that show business is as tough as it is fabulous and features the classic songs ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’, ‘I Am Changing’ and ‘One Night Only’.
One of the most sought after Director/Choreographers, Casey Nicholaw said “I am beyond thrilled to be directing 
and choreographing Dreamgirls in the West End. It was one of the first shows I saw when I moved to New York in 1982 and has been my favourite show ever since. We’ve begun to assemble a terrific cast of actors here in the UK. We also have a terrific design team lined up – it’s going to be a smart and sexy production. I’m so excited about working with Amber. I loved her on Glee and when her name came up for this, I thought – Wow, I think she could be incredible – and then when she came in to audition for us, she blew us away!”
With book and lyrics by Tom Eyen and music by Henry Krieger, the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett opened in 1981 and subsequently won six Tony Awards®. The original cast recording won two Grammy awards for Best Musical Album and Best Vocal Performance for Jennifer Holliday’s ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.’ In 2006 it was adapted into an Oscar winning motion picture starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx.
Dreamgirls is produced by Sonia Friedman Productions.
Here’s a taste of what to expect when Dreamgirls gets its UK Premiere.
