The Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham
25th September 2022
Attended by Emma Millward
The Alexandra Theatre Birmingham gave us a sneak peek of their festive season spectacular. Dreamgirls will entertain audiences in Birmingham right up until New Year’s Eve.
After a brief introduction by Theatre Director Simon Creed, we were introduced to some of the cast and given exclusive stripped down performances of four songs from the hit show. The cast members and the characters they play are as follows:
Nicole Raquel Dennis as Effie White.
Natalie Kassanga as Deena Jones.
Paige Peddie as Lorell Robinson.
Brandon Lee Sears as Jimmy Early.
The full company opened with ‘Fake Your Way to the Top’. The perfect lively song to kick off proceedings. Between songs, the cast told us they were looking forward to bringing the show to Birmingham in December as it’s perfect for the festive party season with its glitz, glamour and plenty of brightly coloured sequins!
Brandon Lee Sears and Paige Peddie then sang ‘Ain’t No Party’. A much slower but equally powerful song that was met with a huge round of applause. Next came ‘Listen’, sang beautifully by Nicole Raquel Dennis and Natalie Kassanga. This is one of the more famous songs from the show and Nicole Raquel Dennis told us it’s always a crowd pleaser when it appears towards the end of the show.
Finally bringing the ‘Live Lounge’ style show to a fitting climax, Nicole Raquel Dennis sang ‘I Am Changing’. One of many big songs Nicole sings in the show. Nicole told us the role of Effie White was definitely a ‘bucket list’ role for any actor to play, and with emotional songs like this to perform each night, it’s not hard to see why.
If this dazzling preview is anything to go by, Dreamgirls definitely looks set to be the ‘must-see’ show in Birmingham this December and the perfect festive treat. Get your tickets now!!
Dreamgirls runs from 6th December until 31st Decembe