John F. Breglio announced today that the 2009 national tour of Tony Award-winning, smash musical Dreamgirls will hold open auditions at the Apollo Theater (253 West 125 Street) on Saturday, November 1, 2008 with audition sign-in from 9:30am till 11am. This open audition is for casting the starring roles of The Dreams - Deena Jones, Lorrell Robinson and Effie White, and the casting directors are looking for women in their 20's.
Dreamgirls is directed and choreographed by Bobby Longbottom with co-choreography by Shane Sparks, music direction by Zane Mark, and is produced by John Breglio for Vienna Waits Productions.
Dreamgirls is the story of a young female singing trio from Chicago, and their rocky road to superstardom. The original Broadway production of Dreamgirls opened December 20, 1981 at the Imperial Theatre and won six 1982 Tony Awards. Dreamgirls closed on Broadway August 11, 1985, after 1,522 performances. Dreamgirls features music by Henry Krieger and lyrics and book by Tom Eyen. The original Broadway production was directed by Michael Bennett and choreographed by Bennett and Michael Peters. Dreamgirls was adapted into a motion picture by DreamWorks Pictures and Paramount Pictures, and opened in December 2006.
Since introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo Theater has played a major role in the emergence of innovative musical genres including jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, soul and hip-hop. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis, Jr., James Brown, Bill Cosby, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D'Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road to stardom on the Apollo's stage. Based on its cultural significance and architecture, the Apollo Theater received state and city landmark designation in 1983 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Apollo Theater Foundation was established as a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit corporation in 1991 and is dedicated to the preservation and development of the Apollo Theater. The historic venue hosts major concerts and special events and continues its tradition of discovering future stars with its weekly installment of Apollo Amateur Night every Wednesday night and with the syndicated television show, Showtime at the Apollo, which is taped at the theater and airs weekly in over 150 markets nationwide. Harlem is Manhattan's third most popular tourist destination and the Apollo remains Harlem's top attraction, drawing 1.3 million visitors annually.
The world famous Apollo Theater, "where stars are born and legends are made" TM is located in the heart of Harlem at 253 West 125 Street, between Adam Clayton Powell Blvd (7th Ave.) and Frederick Douglass Blvd (8th Ave.). For further information about the Apollo Theater, visit the website at www.apollotheater.org.
