Original "Dreamgirl" and Broadway veteran Sheryl Lee Ralph is shared her thoughts with Entertainment Tonight on former "American Idol" contestant Syesha Mercado, who plays Deena Jones in the revival of the stage production.
"Syesha, rhymes with 'Moesha,' and at 22 she's too young to remember the TV show, and her only reference for the original Broadway Dreamgirls would be a theatre history book and a fuzzy YouTube [video] -- which means that her Deena Jones would be a cinematic Beyonce," the former "Moesha" star says of Syesha.
To read what else the actress had to say about the new Dreamgirls click here.
Sheryl Lee Ralph is an acclaimed veteran of film, television and the Broadway stage. Her award winning body of work includes creating and originating the role of Deena Jones on Broadway in the landmark musical Dreamgirls, which earned her both a Tony and Drama Desk Award Nomination for Best Actress. After Dreamgirls, Ms. Ralph turned her attention to music, television and film. She scored a top-ten selling dance hit in the mid-eighties with the infectious anthem In the Evening andagain in the nineties with her remake of Here comes the Rain Again. She just completed a run in the world premiere of The First Wives Club - A New Musical at San Diego's Old Globe Theatre.
On television, Sheryl Lee has starred in It's a Living, her own series New Attitude, the George Foreman series George and in the hit comedy Designing Women. She was also voted one of TV's Favorite Moms for her portrayal of step mom Dee on the number-one rated television series Moesha. She broke new ground In the SHOWTIME series, Barbershop, as the popular, post-operative transsexual, Claire. Recently, Sheryl brought a new face to the sufferings of war in the NBC hit series ER.
Her extensive film credits include Sister Act II with Whoopi Goldberg, The Flintstones with Rosie O'Donnell, The Mighty Quinn with Denzel Washington, Mistress with Robert De Niro, and Eddie Murphy's Distinguished Gentleman. Sheryl Lee's performance with Danny Glover in To Sleep with Anger won her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress.
For more information on Sheryl Lee Ralph, visit her official website.
Producer John Breglio and the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. announced today that New York audiences will get an additional week to see the premiere engagement of Dreamgirls at the Apollo Theater. This brand-new production of the landmark musical will now play 7 additional performances through Saturday, December 12, 2009 at Harlem's legendary Apollo Theater (253 West 125 Street - just ten minutes from midtown) prior to the national tour's engagement at Baltimore's Hippodrome at France-Merrick Performing Arts Center beginning Wednesday, December 16, 2009. Dreamgirls began previews at the Theater Saturday, November 7, 2009, and will officially open Sunday, November 22, 2009.
Dreamgirls is directed and choreographed by Robert Longbottom with co-choreography by Shane Sparks, scenic design by Robin Wagner, costume design by William Ivey Long, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Acme Sound Partners, and media design by Howard Werner for Lightswitch. With music direction by Sam Davis, orchestrations by Harold Wheeler, and Vocal Arrangements by David Chase & Cleavant Derricks, Dreamgirls is produced by John Breglio for Vienna Waits Productions in association with Chunsoo Shin, Jake Productions & Broadway Across America/TBS.
Dreamgirls introduces Moya Angela as Effie White and features, as The Dreams, Syesha Mercado as Deena Jones, Adrienne Warren as Lorrell Robinson, and Margaret Hoffman as Michelle Morris with Chaz Lamar Shepherd as Curtis Taylor, Jr., Chester Gregory as James "Thunder" Early, Trevon Davis as C.C. White, Milton Craig Nealy as Marty Madison in a cast of 26 that also features Felicia Boswell, Tallia Brinson, Patrice Covington, Ronald Duncan, Talitha Farrow, Brittney Griffin, James Harkness, Robert Hartwell, Eric Jackson, Chauncey Jenkins, Jared Joseph, Nikki Kimbrough, Brittany Lewis, Douglas Lyons, Kimberly Marable, Jarran Muse, Amaker Smith and Marc Spaulding.
Following the Apollo Theater engagement, the national tour of Dreamgirls will play Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Chicago, Boston, Columbus, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, Costa Mesa, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Dallas, Kansas City and more. For more information, please visit http://www.dreamgirlsonstage.com/
