Dreamgirls - Savoy / UK Tour

Totally agree with you!!  

I agree that this don't think Amber will stay with Dreamgirls for long time but she's certainly good to open the show. I think she'll leave around 6 months into the run too so around June.

I originally didn't think AB would stay with the tour for that long either but then I remembered she stayed with The Bodyguard for the whole 18 month run. If they added more dates to Sister Act then I think she would leave after that but I think she could be in the show until around May/June next year maybe? 

I would like to see her return to the WE but I know she wants to record new music too because she went straight from The Bodyguard to Sister Act and she said she'll be releasing music after Sister Act. 

I dont think Dreamgirls would have both Amber and Alexandra in the show at the same time but I think they will have atleast a name in one of the leads at a time (like The Bodyguard did with Heather, Bev and Alex).

So maybe if Amber left they would get in Alexandra? I can see her being more of a Deena then a Effie though? And I swear Baz said that Cynthia Erivo was going to be involved as a possible Effie way back when this was rumoured to be coming to London? 

Sorry George, I didn't realise that song was from the show. My bad, it all makes sense now. Anyway, seeing Alexandra in Sister Act this evening so must dash!

If AB does do the Sister Act tour until August next year then, maybe she will join the show after that? She would be a good Deena in my opinion and they could get someone else to play Effie. Maybe Amber will be in the show though for a year. If that were the case, AB could leave sister act in August and then record music before joint Dreamgirls in November when Amber leaves and they presumably do a cast change?

Cynthia would be a fabulous Effie!  Would be pretty good timing too assuming she ends her run in The Color Purple at the end of this year or sometime next spring and Amber only does six months here.

Okay so I saw Cynthia in an array of shows..Umbrellas of Chouberoug (where I said who is THAT with the awesome voice), I Can't Sing, Color Purple, Dessa Rose, and a handful of concerts and gigs.

The girl is super talented and can sing. She's also quite a revelation in Color Purple and I would't have had anyone else win a Tony.

But in all honesty, I find her slightly too serious and dare I say it, dull, for the extravagant and flamboyant Dreamgirls, especially Effie. Which is why she is perfect for the understated and subtle Color Purple.

I just don't think she has the sass or spike for Effie. Also, looks wise, it really would not make much sense for her to be Effie, because she is quite mainstream good looking. Effie does not need to be a plus size girl, but there's got to be something about the way she looks that urges Curtis to replace her with someone who has a more appealing look. Though her Deena could be more attractive, it still wouldn't have much of an impact on the audience nor would it make sense. You have to also understand that Effie is a very difficult woman and by no stretch of the imagination an angel. So the audience needs to root for her because she was challenged and told to step aside because of the way she looks and the aftermath of that arrangement. If Cynthia were to be Effie, I'd doubt people would connect at all. They'd be like, you're fit and can sing, cry me a river. 

Plus at this point in her career where everyone under the sun would probably want to hire her, why would she replace? She's by far better choosing new material or recording an album or even touring Color Purple (that seems to be back "in" in the US) than coming to London as a replacement to a star. If she's come back to London I would imagine her having her eyes fixed on Angelica in Hamilton. That's somewhat of an originating gig and certainly in what will be the most hyped and sought after show in London next year.

PS-
She sang One Night only and Am I AM Telling You in one of her concerts in London, and while she delivered I was actually underwhelmed by how the music reading and even the riffs were based on Jennifer Hudson's singing down the T. For the great singer that she is, that disappointed me. 

PPS-
TBH I would have thought that Alexandra Burke was the default choice for Deena, especially when she Tweeted saying that she'd be starring in a musical again. She can certainly pull it off. Deena's rise to stardom is based on the fact that she has a good-but generic-voice, the look, and with some management, the attitude. That's a perfect description of Ms. Burke. 

Yeah I wouldn't of originally put her as a replacement to Effie but I just seem to recall Baz saying something about her in the London production, probably fell through though. Be interested to see if Amber is doing a year in the show or just 6 months because I presume the other cast will do the usual year. If Amber does 6 months only, then maybe they will just bump up one of the alternates to full time? 

As for Alexandra, I think that role would suit her to a T too. Maybe she chose Sister Act over it, who knows? And AB would be able to sing Listen perfectly too! I'd love to see her star in it next year but i dont know if they would have 2 names in the show at the same time? 

True, but in Sister Act she's undeniably the lead whereas in Dreamgirls she'd be playing second fiddle to Effie, especially with the arguably more famous Amber playing her

Oh Alexandra. Nice enough foghorn voice and all but I think I have an old carrier bag somewhere that has more personality and stage presence than her.

She's so wooden I half thought she'd turned up in 'Jesus Christ Superstar' recently. But then they started nailing Declan Bennett to her and I realised . . . .

She's doing it for a year.

I don't get why it should be in a different threads purely because the topic we are discussing is about Dreamgirls so it's in the Dreamgirls thread. And we are discussing who would be good if there were to be a cast change and since Alexandra Burke sang Listen so well on the X-Factor we are discussing that

She's only a guest judge during the auditions I believe, so it shouldn't interfere with the Dreamgirls schedule