Broadway’s Dreamgirls is officially coming back. Producers announced a first-ever Broadway revival with performances slated for fall 2026, led by Camille A. Brown as both director and choreographer and accompanied by a worldwide open casting search to find its next “Dreams.” Dates and theatre are still to be announced, but the signal is clear: one of the most influential American musicals is stepping back onto the Main Stem for a new generation.
Dreamgirls helped shape how audiences understand the rise of Black girl groups, stardom, and the machinery of the music industry. Premiering in 1981, the original Broadway run earned 13 Tony nominations and 6 wins; its signature songs crossed into popular culture, and the 2006 film reintroduced its power to millions. This revival arrives as Broadway continues rebuilding audiences and seeking broader representation: the 2023–24 season drew 12.3 million admissions and $1.54 billion in grosses, near-pre-pandemic seat-fill levels and with the most diverse audience on record in recent years.
There is significance behind the creative team as well. Camille A. Brown previously made history as the first Black woman in more than 65 years to serve as both director and choreographer of a Broadway production. Her leadership on Dreamgirls places a trailblazing artist at the center of a story about ambition, artistry, and survival.
Need-to-Know (at a glance)
The original production starred Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, and Loretta Devine, and ran from 1981 to 1985. Its cultural reach has been sustained by revivals and reimaginings, notably Amber Riley’s Olivier-winning performanceas Effie White in the 2016 West End production. That lineage raises the bar for any new cast while underlining the show’s global resonance.
Producers are casting globally with open calls announced for New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, London, Toronto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris. The call specifically invites “talented women of all shapes and sizes,” a nod to both vocal athleticism and inclusive storytelling. Expect more details on creative design, theatre, and dates as the team advances toward 2026.
For performers: Dreamgirls asks for sprint-level stamina and marathon-level consistency. Effie, Deena, and Lorrell must balance precision harmonies, emotional arcs, and star presence. This revival’s open search widens access for rising artists beyond the traditional pipeline. For audiences: the show invites us to revisit questions about who gets to “break through,” who gets credited for the sound, and how friendship bends under fame. The new staging offers a chance to see those questions answered by a creative leader fluent in movement, music, and memory.
Broadway’s steadier box-office base and a growing share of international visitors set a practical backdrop for a high-profile revival with global name recognition. With producers like Sonia Friedman involved and a director known for kinetic storytelling, Dreamgirls is poised to anchor a season already filling with large-scale revivals. Keep an eye on official channels for audition outcomes, theatre announcement, and ticket on-sale dates.
Dreamgirls has always been about more than a trio chasing a hit. It is a study of ambition, loyalty, and the price of reinvention. Returning to Broadway in 2026, it offers something timely: a chance to honor the women who built the sound, to elevate new voices who will carry it forward, and to remind the industry that excellence can be both historic and newly imagined. The dreams are the point. The work to make them real is the story.
“We didn’t step into these parts. We actually co-created the characters. I keep it fresh by being honest and by allowing each audience to be a new audience.”
Jennifer Holliday
Jennifer Holliday’s voice is still Broadway shorthand for raw feeling. The original Effie White won the 1982 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical and a 1983 Grammy for “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” achievements that cemented her as a once-in-a-generation vocalist. In recent years she has kept one foot on the Main Stem, returning in 2022 to play Matron “Mama” Morton in Chicago, a role she also took on in 2001.
Today, Holliday is very much in front of live audiences. She’s headlining concerts, including a September 20, 2025 showcase that opens Harbison Theatre’s season in South Carolina, part of a steady calendar of appearances that keep her classic repertoire in motion. Whether she’s belting “Effie” or curating jazz and gospel sets, the through-line is the same: a master technician who still performs like the stakes are personal.
“This honor is for every artist who has ever felt unseen, every woman who was told to wait her turn… I want generations to see what’s possible—that their dreams are valid, their voice is powerful, and their potential limitless.” (Hollywood Walk of Fame, Apr. 16, 2025)
Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sheryl Lee Ralph took Deena Jones’ poise into a television renaissance. Decades after Dreamgirls, she won the 2022 Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy for Abbott Elementary, becoming just the second Black woman to win in that category—a breakthrough she marked with an unforgettable acceptance. In April 2025, Ralph received the 2,808th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, a moment shared with family, colleagues, and fans who have watched her build a career on grit and generosity.
Ralph remains a daily presence in culture: Abbott Elementary returns for Season 5 on October 1, 2025, and she’s expanding into voice work on PBS Kids’ Weather Hunters. Off-screen, she’s leaned into mentorship and public health advocacy, channeling the same steadiness that made Barbara Howard an icon of care. The effect is cumulative: a veteran star whose peak keeps moving forward.
“You really have to have a passion for it… It’s bumpy, ups and downs, no rhyme or reason. Be prepared. You have to know your part, know your lines. You have to be on time.” (On professional discipline and longevity)
Loretta Devine
Loretta Devine, who originated the quick-witted Lorrell Robinson, has built one of Hollywood’s most versatile résumés. Film audiences know her from Waiting to Exhale; TV viewers from Grey’s Anatomy, where she won the 2011 Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress as Adele Webber. The consistency of her work has made her a lodestar for younger performers crossing between stage and screen.
Devine stays creatively restless. In 2024, she returned to her theatre roots at Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre, joining the world-premiere musical of The Preacher’s Wife alongside Amber Riley, then continued popping up on screens and streamers in projects like the indie A Snowy Day in Oakland. Her through-line is a warm, lived-in comedic beat that can pivot to heartbreak in a breath—still every bit the scene-stealer who kept pace with the Dreams.
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