‘Dreamgirls’ is returning to Broadway for first revival in over 40 years

Five-time Tony Award nominee Camille Brown has been tapped to choreograph and direct, marking her first Broadway musical.

“And I’m telling you….” after more than 40 years since its debut, the iconic musical “Dreamgirls” is heading back to Broadway!

On Monday, September 15, the upcoming musical’s producers, Sonia Friedman, Sue Wagner, John Johnson, and LaChanze, announced that the Tony Award–winning show is returning, with performances slated to begin in fall 2026, Playbill magazine reported. 

“All you’ve got to do is dream… Dreamgirls is returning to Broadway,” read the caption and text graphic of a post on the musical’s new official Instagram page. 

“Dreamgirls,” which chronicles the rise of a fictional Black ‘60s girl group in the entertainment industry, loosely based on stars of that era like The Supremes and others, made its historic debut on Broadway in 1981 with a cast that included Jennifer Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Loretta Devine, and Obba Babatundé. The original production turned Holliday, who starred as the lead character—Effie White—into an absolute star and a Tony winner. Others who have stepped into the role have had similar success. 

The famous 2006 film adaptation, which starred Beyoncé, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose, Jamie Foxx, and Jennifer Hudson as Effie, catapulted the R&B star and talk show host to epic stardom and earned her an Academy Award. 

When it returns to Broadway, Camille Brown, a five-time Tony Award nominee whose credits include “Gypsy,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf” and “Once on This Island,” has been tapped to choreograph and direct, marking the first time she’s directed a Broadway musical. Run dates and a theater have yet to be announced. 

Given the musical’s reach and its timeless theme of dreams coming true, the show is launching international open casting calls. Playbill reported that producers are looking for “talented women of all shapes and sizes” and will hold auditions across New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta, Detroit, Miami, London, Toronto, Mexico City, Amsterdam, Rome, and Paris.