'Dreamgirls' sing out about new musical
Updated 8/23/2006 9:52 PM ET E-mail | Save | Print | Subscribe to stories like this



Beyoncé Knowles is R&B royalty. Jennifer Hudson got her break on TV. And the world has mostly been a stage to Anika Non-i Rose. Together, the three female stars of Dreamgirls are discovering what it's like to headline a big-screen version of a Broadway musical. USA TODAY's Susan Wloszczyna went to the set in L.A. earlier this year and spoke to the harmonizing trio.
Beyoncé Knowles

"Beyoncé didn't shy away from showing Deena's ambition and a little bit of cunning." —Dreamgirls director Bill Condon

Talk about destiny fulfilled. Knowles has known she was born to portray Deena, the ambitious lead of The Dreams, since she was 15. That's when she first heard about the 1981 Tony winner Dreamgirls from her choreographer, Frank Gaston Jr.

"He's been telling me about it forever. When I found they were doing it as a movie musical, I was like, 'OK, I have to take a deep breath. This is my movie. I'm Deena. I have to play this part.' "

As an actress, Knowles, 24, has shone in comedies such as Austin Powers in Goldmember, but no one knew whether she could tackle drama. One look at her screen test and the filmmakers realized they found their Deena.

Just because she has performed most of her life as a member of Destiny's Child, the most successful girl group in the world, don't assume that Knowles and Deena are one and the same. "I'm not worried about that. It's a character and we have parallels in our lives, but a lot of things are different."

Creative strife led to the exodus of several members of the now-defunct Destiny's Child, but Knowles says she didn't need to draw on real-life experiences. "I lived some of these things, but I'm not using any of that in my acting. I've created Deena as Deena and not as me. I don't even want to recognize myself when I see the film."

Knowles believes the story is still relevant. "It's really about the friendship. The women start off together with a lot of the same goals, they go through this journey and end up back together again. The great thing is, each woman individually realizes her dream."

Just like Beyoncé and her castmates.

Anika Non-i Rose

"Anika plays sort of the dumb blonde. It was a stretch for her to find Lorrell's ditzy quality. But as the movie progresses, she really grows up." — Condon

Two years ago, Rose came off smelling, well, like a rose when she took home a Tony as a maid's daughter coming of age during the civil rights movement in the musical Caroline, or Change.

But what was supposed to be her big break in movies gave off a less pleasant aroma: 2003's From Justin to Kelly, the beach-blanket blunder of an American Idol spinoff.

At least Rose, 28, found that playing Kelly Clarkson's best pal proved educational. "I learned about the process. There's so much difference between theater and movies."

Working close with Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Hudson made the adjustment easier. "We clicked from Day 1. All of us are just really secure in the people that we are. There's no competition. And there's a helping hand if you need one."

This day, she and her fellow Dreams are going solo for the first time before a white audience. More than a mile's worth of sequin curtains envelops the 18,000-square-foot soundstage while extras sit at tables. Having an audience react to their lip-synced swaying to the song Dreamgirls helps put Rose in the mood. "You need that energy."

She plays the funny one in the group. "Lorrell has moments of daffiness. She is a girly-girl and I'm like, 'Where are my sneakers?' "

Rose appreciates that there is more to Dreamgirls than just backstage theatrics, as it moves from the protest '60s to the liberated '70s. "These women in this show are fighting for their equality. Not to just be seen as black performers but to be seen as a group with class. To be accepted into any club."

But there is also something universal in Hudson's character Effie's tale of betrayal and triumph. "Everyone can relate to the time when they feel like they can do better and yet they are not being recognized."

After Dreamgirls, Rose might not go unrecognized much longer.

Jennifer Hudson

"Jennifer's Effie is completely without any filter. She can be difficult. But she is always telling the truth." — Condon

Being rudely booted off of American Idol in 2004 might have been the best thing that ever happened to Hudson. She could have starred in her own life story on cable TV, only to be told she was unconvincing — which just happened to Fantasia Barrino, the winner of Hudson's Idol season.

Instead, this Cinderella gal with the rafter-rattling voice finds herself in a role that turned another Jennifer — Holliday — into an overnight sensation.

"Effie is a roller-coaster ride," says Hudson, 24, of the plus-sized diva with the overflow of talent. "I like that because it is challenging and I accept any challenge."

That includes dancing and singing in curve-squeezing dresses. "We can't even sit down," she says as she tugs on her slipping bodice. "Well, I'm going to eat anyway. I have to. I'm Effie. I have to hold onto my jelly."

Hudson can't help but bubble over with confidence, and why not? Over in a corner, Jamie Foxx is intently taking on her acting coach in a game of chess. "They play all the time," she says. "Right now, I have it down pat, so my coach has nothing else to do."

One issue dealt with in Dreamgirls strikes a deep chord with Hudson: selling out and not being yourself to achieve mainstream fame. She says she had to do just that on Idol. "I got told, 'Everything about you is too much. Your size is too much. Your hair is too much.' Isn't that what a superstar is?"

She might earn that label and more once audiences hear her roar her way through the show's signature tune, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. She recorded it, then went back to make sure she put her stamp on it.

"I know me and Jennifer Holliday have something in common, which is our names and our vocal style. But I'm Jennifer Hudson, and I want to introduce her."





Jennifer Hudson, from left, Eddie Murphy, Beyoncé and Anika Non-i Rose show off their vocal chops in Dreamgirls.

PICTURE GALLERY (TAKE A LOOK AT JENNIFER HUDSON IN #9.. )
http://www.usatoday.com/l.../flash.htm
[Edited 8/24/06 7:10am]

i kinda dig jennifer's style in #9. it seems to fit her well.

I can't wait to see this!! Although I recently saw a clip of I'm Not Leaving by Jennifer Holiday in Dreamgirls. No one will be able to compare.

A friend of mine is an extra in the movie.

M