Dreaming Big With BBL Fine Arts Academy

Summer 2016

The Tony Award winning Broadway hit Dreamgirls first premiered in 1981, with the eponymous film arriving in 2006 and garnering significant recognition including Jennifer Hudson’s Oscar win for her role as Effie White. The story follows the ups and downs of life in the 1960s R&B music scene and was an easy choice when Banks Bridgewater Lewis Fine Arts Academy—a vital force in local arts education since it’s inception in 2005—and Krannert Center decided to team up to begin exploring a community theatre production last season

In 2015, the Dreamgirls Revue was presented at Stage 5 where local singers including Noah Brown, Crofton Coleman, Sherrika Ellison, Tyra Nesbitt, and Eric Smith blew audiences away with a sensational showcase. Now in Summer 2016, BBL and Krannert Center are going in on a full production, casting 20 local performers and assembling a dynamic team of musicians, designers, theatrical artists, and student interns all under the direction of Illinois Theatre faculty member Latrelle Bright and staff from both organizations.