🌪Force of Nature, 1982: Seeing Jennifer Holliday and "Dreamgirls" on Broadway
In New York for a wedding, I spent an evening at the "the-uh-tah" to witness the emphatic birth of a once-in-a-generational talent. At just 21, this Houston homegirl tore the roof off the suckah!
Mom went one way; I went the other. We had travelled to Buffalo for my brother’s wedding; my new sister-in-law was from Buffalo, or as he used to say when introducing her pre-wedding, “Most of my friends are from human parents.”
Clint, who had moved to L.A. from our Houston hometown, in 1978, was a budding stand-up comedian, and I helped write his act. Thankfully, I can’t (and won’t) claim that one! I joined them in N. Hollywood in January 1980, and landed at the same small apartment complex as they.
The day after the June 6, 1982 wedding, Mom and I drove down to New York City to each take in a Broadway performance. She took in a show that was “more her speed”: Lauren Bacall starring in Woman of the Year at the Palace Theatre:
I took in a show far more “my speed”: a show about a Supremes-like ‘60s pop group, starring a Jennifer something-or-other at the Imperial.
That’s the extent of our knowledge about which show we’d chosen. But, Lauren Bacall was all she needed to know, and something about the Supremes was cool for me. While “her” star, Lauren Bacall, was well-known to her through the movies, Dreamgirls star, Jennifer Holliday, at just 21, was a literal complete-unknown, at least to the general public, including me.
None of us at the Imperial that day had any inkling of the performing tornado that awaited us. Longtime theatrical phrases like “brought the house down,” “tore the roof off,” and “really wowed ‘em” may just as well have been born that day, as far as the June 7th ticket-holders were concerned.
Holliday: Houston Homegirl
Jennifer Yvette Holliday was born in my Houston hometown October 19, 1960, some 5 1/2 years after I first drew breath. She attended Booker T. Washington High School, before attending Texas Southern University, all in Houston. As a girl, she sang solos with the choir at Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church.
She basically grew up in and near downtown, while I was raised in suburban southwest Houston, in the Meyerland subdivision with its large Jewish population, near Meyerland Country Club (of which we were members, where I regularly swam and took dancing lessons at 13….for some reason). We may as well have lived on separate planets, as different as our childhoods undoubtedly were.
“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going”
Dreamgirls, directed by A Chorus Line (1975) director, Michael Bennett (somebody else from Buffalo), premiered at the Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981, and closed on August 11, 1985, after 1,521 performances.
The musical was produced by Bennett, Bob Avian (award-winning A Chorus Line choreographer), Geffen Records (who went on to sign Jennifer, and release three Holliday albums beginning in 1983), and The Shubert Organization, with choreography by Bennett and Michael Peters (the show won the 1982 Tony for Best Choreography).
Starring with Jennifer Holliday (as Effie White) were Sheryl Lee Ralph as Deena Jones, and another Houstonian, Loretta Devine, as Lorrell Robinson…The Dreams. Dreamgirls proved to be a star-making vehicle for several of its performers, particularly Holliday, whose performance as Effie received universal praise.
The show’s hit song, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” which was Act 1’s closing number (and, with her incredible performance, we all could’ve left happy and satisfied at Intermission), was written by Tom Eyen (lyrics), with music composed by Henry Krieger. Eyen, Krieger, and Bennett won the Tony for Best Book of a Musical for Dreamgirls.
In his review of Dreamgirls, The New York Times theatre critic, Frank Rich, referred to Holliday’s “And I Am Telling You” as “one of the most powerful theatrical coups to be found in a Broadway musical since Ethel Merman sang ‘Everything’s Coming Up Roses’ at the end of Act I of Gypsy.”
The song, while getting to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop songs, it topped out at #22 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, #32 on the UK Singles chart, #23 in Ireland, and #7 on Canada’s Adult Contemporary chart.
Recorded as a “pop version” for single release, as well as the official Broadway Cast Album, it was produced by David Foster. Just seven years before, FR&B’s singer/songwriter/guitarist/actor, Stephen Michael Schwartz, hired the 25-year-old, unknown Foster to play keyboards, and to act as musical director for Stephen’s second album for RCA Records in 1975.
The story of those sessions (in Stephen’s own words), plus more exclusive in-studio photos from Stephen’s personal collection, can be accessed in the linked box below the photo.
The lyrics to “And I’m Telling You” describe Effie’s love for Curtis, both strongly devoted and defiant. She refuses to let Curtis leave her behind, and boldly proclaims to him, “I’m staying and you ... you’re gonna love me!”
Some of the things (and there’s a list) that made Holliday’s performance of this song extraordinary was her astounding breath control and unadulterated vocal power, highlighted by the most histrionic, violent vibrato I’d ever seen (or heard), which, while perfect for stage work, might’ve actually worked against her in subsequent studio efforts, which often require more vocal deftness and subtlety. Weak material also dogged her eventual, unfolding pop career.
Jennifer’s unprecedented use of an audible gasp of air, unheard-of in customary stage and studio singing, is put to stunningly effective and emotionally climactic use, here. All these elements left me (and most audience members) with mouths agape in awe and wonder at the once-in-a-lifetime performance of an artist still too few even know about.
To the video (no authorized video, understandably, exists of the actual onstage production, but this is one of the earliest staged-for-camera recreations of the song and scene we have…the 1982 Tony Awards telecast):
Also, from the time (with more focused control of production values), an in-studio solo performance with just Jennifer, 1982:
Night of the Dueling Jennifers
Snubbed (for even a cameo) by the producers of the 2006 movie version of Dreamgirls, starring Jennifer Hudson, the understandably miffed Holliday classily buried the hatchet, and joined Effie 2.0 in June 2007, opening the BET Awards with The Song:
And, here she is from August 2022, just two months from her 62nd birthday:
If you’re in the Los Angeles area (or planning to be, soon), make your reservations now to see FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE’s singer/songwriter/guitarist, Stephen Michael Schwartz, in a special evening of original rock’n’pop music, Saturday, April 1!
What a reckless force of nature that performance was (still is). I can only imagine the shock you and the rest of the audience must have experienced as little did you know what an absolute TREAT you were in for. Or shall I say ride!
Very interesting analysis from a vocal technique point of view as well. That amount of power can only be achieved with unwavering diaphragmatic support. Jennifer was not only giving a lesson on “how it’s done” from a theatrical/artistic/stylistic point of view. She was (and is, as she still sounds amazing to this day) showing how with a healthy technique and well supported voice you can pretty much get away with anything. Related to her outstanding breath control is her impeccable vocal placing which I suspect is the main reason why she can hit those notes without sounding screechy (a lesson her namesake could or should perhaps benefit from 😅). Amazing content as always, thanks a lot for taking us on this journey and letting us have a quick glimpse of what it must have been like to experience all that magic live!