For the first time together on one stage, it’s the star-studded cast of Dreamgirls! The film, adapted from the Tony award-winning musical, follows the rise and fall of a 1960′s girl group on the quest for fame.

“I am so excited to tell you about this movie!” Oprah says. “It has kept me up for days thinking about it. The songs going in and out of my head. The acting. The music. It defines sensational. I am telling you, you will be dazzled!”

In Dreamgirls, Oscar� winner Jamie Foxx plays Curtis Taylor, an ambitious manager with his eye on the prize. It was a role Jamie wanted to play so badly, he says he would have done it for a quarter.

“When this project was coming along, it was like, well, who’s going to be in it? And when I heard that Beyonc� was involved, when I heard that Eddie Murphy was involved � You go to yourself, ‘Look, it doesn’t matter how much money you get paid. You want to be part of history.’ This is what’s going to be put in that time capsule. People are going to look back and see this movie, and this is going to develop their culture.”

Nine-time Grammy� winner Beyonc� Knowles plays Deena Jones, a backup singer whose awe-inspiring beauty quickly thrusts her to center stage. Beyonc� was thrilled when she heard that the musical was becoming a film.

“I’ve been hearing about Dreamgirls, the musical, since I was 16. The second my choreographer, Frank, saw me he said, ‘You’re Deena.’ And I was like, ‘Who is Deena?’ So I’ve been preparing for this role without even knowing for years.”

Beyonc�’s powerful stage presence nearly cost her the part, she says. “[The director] was concerned that I couldn’t play young Deena because on the stage I’m so different. I’m so strong and really powerful,” Beyonc� says. “So I did a screen test and I was the first person cast.” Still, she had to keep her voice in check. “Deena had a very soft voice and she didn’t have a lot of soul. So I couldn’t grunt, I couldn’t growl, I couldn’t sing how I wanted until [the song] ‘Listen,’ which is that important moment.”

Former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson beat out 782 other hopefuls to make her film debut as Effie White in Dreamgirls�and according to Oprah, it isn’t just a breakthrough, she crashes through the wall! “I think it’s a religious experience listening to her sing,” Oprah says. “She makes the little hairs on the back of your neck stand up.”

Jennifer says that all the attention she’s receiving feels like a blessing. “It’s God’s favor,” she says. After auditioning three times in six months, Jennifer felt the decision was in the hands of a higher power. “I ended up on the church steps across the street from my house and I said, ‘Lord, here I am. If it’s meant for me, it’s for me. Whatever your will is, that’s what’s best for me, and that’s what I want,’” she says. “Two weeks later, they called me saying, ‘Congratulations, Jennifer Hudson, you’re Effie White.’”

As a finalist on American Idol, Jennifer took some heat from judge Simon Cowell, including a comment that she was out of her depth in the competition. Now, Simon’s got some making up to do!

“We have our history together, don’t we, Jennifer?” Simon says. “Now I feel my criticism has probably had a significant part in your career, because the buzz on you is huge. I heard your [version] of ‘And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going’ today, and I would like to be the first to eat a massive dose of humble pie. Because there are good performances and occasionally there are extraordinary performances. That was extraordinary, Jennifer, and I feel very proud for you. I feel we had a very small part in what’s happened in your life, and please thank me when you get your Oscar�.”

In Dreamgirls, Eddie Murphy plays James “Thunder” Early, a character who’s part James Brown, part Little Richard, and all Eddie Murphy. As a fan of the musical, he was excited to be cast in the film. “I’m much older than the rest of the cast,” he says. “I saw the original play on Broadway 25 years ago and I loved [it]. I was blown away when they asked me to be in it.”

Like the rest of the cast, Eddie does all his own singing in the film, but even he admits that the pop albums he put out in the ’80s weren’t a good example of what he could do. “I don’t know if ‘Party All the Time’ gave you any [idea] of what was coming�that this was coming 20 years later,” he jokes.
USA – 20.11.06
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