With its dazzling costumes, pizzazzy lighting, and above all its sensational talent both on stage and off, Cupcake Theater’s Dreamgirls more than holds its own against its multimillion-dollar predecessors.

There’s probably no need to fill anyone in on Dreamgirls’ plot, its songs, or its phenomenal success (over 1500 performances on Broadway, tons of awards, and a hit movie adaptation which finally made it to the screen fully twenty-five years after its 1981 Broadway debut), but here goes.

 It’s the early 1960s and luscious Deena Jones (Shaunté Massard), vivacious Lorrell Robinson (Courtney Kendall), and bodacious Effie White (Dominique Kent) are three black girls with a dream, to win Amateur Night at Harlem’s Apollo and take the recording world by storm.

Catching the eye of aspiring talent manager Curtis Taylor, Jr. (Apollo Levine), the appropriately named Dreamettes soon find themselves singing backup for flamboyant R&B superstar James “Thunder” Early (Chad Ra’Shun) under the watchful eye of Effie’s younger brother C.C. (J-Blake White) and Jimmy’s manager Marty (Ryan James Hull), and before long the Dreams (as they are redubbed) are hitting the charts on their own.

 Unfortunately for full-figured Effie, success means giving up both the lead vocal spot and boyfriend Curtis to supermodel-stunning Deena, though not without a fight … and an “(And I Am Telling You) I’m Not Going” to bring down the house.

If all this sounds more than a bit like Motown: the Musical (with Deena standing in for Diana Ross, Effie for ousted Florence Ballard, and Curtis for Motown mogul Berry Gordy Jr.), well I’m sure the original Dreamgirls creative team (composer Henry Krieger, lyricist-book writer Tom Eyen, and director-choreographer Michael Bennett) would tell you that “any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental,” but Dreamgirls fans know better.

Admittedly there’s scarcely a hint of the Motown sound in Krieger’s Broadway-meets-Disco score but like Motown: The Musical three decades later, there’s more than enough drama, romance, and back-stabbing to hold an audience in Dreamgirls’ spell from start to finish.

 It’s hard to think of a musical with more thrilling productions numbers than Dreamgirls, from the show-opening medley that pits assorted hopefuls in a battle for first prize at the Apollo to the R-&-B sizzle of “Steppin’ On To The Bad Side” to the Vegas glitz of Act Two’s “Dreamgirls” reprise, or of any Broadway hit with more phenomenal vocalizing by leads and ensemble alike, and with Tor Campbell directing and choreographing with equal parts originality and flair, Cupcake Theater’s latest delivers the entertainment goods and then some.

In a role she was clearly born to play, Massard follows her breakout performance in Dessa Rose with a Deena who’s equal parts beauty, glamour, ambition, vulnerability, and heart … and sings like a dream.

 So does this Dreamgirls’ Lorrell, a role that could easily be overshadowed by the trio’s dueling lead singers but one that Kendall makes dynamically, quirkily, fabulously her own.

Assistant choreographer Levine’s Curtis is a pitch-perfect mix of sex-appeal and slime, an instantly likable White makes C.C. a boy-next-door charmer opposite Emuna Rajkumar’s lovely, vibrant Michelle Morris, and Hull merits his own snaps as the ever loyal if not always duly appreciated Marty.

 Brittany Marie Anderson and Kieara Williams (backup singers Charlene and Joann), Christian Gray (press agent Frank), Brian T. Jones (Sweetheart’s lead singer Dave and Effie’s lawyer Mr. Morgan), Bralyn Medlock (Curtis’s assistant Wayne), Adam Turney (the Apollo Theater MC), and Cameron Allen West (TV director Dwight) are terrific too, with sassy, statuesque Amber Monét commanding her own attention as Tiny Joe Dixon and nightclub owner Jerry (roles originally written as male).

Alexandra Almendarez, Justyn Malik Burney, Fawnia Cantu, Jabrile Frazier-Sears, Valerie Chevaughn Frugé, dance captains Kimberly Ransom-Lundy and Jasmine “J Nicole” Rudd, and Karlee Squires show off triple-threat gifts throughout as The Stepp Sisters, Little Albert & The Tru-Tones, The Five Tuxedos, and the James “Thunder” Early backup band.

Best of all (and giving such Broadway and Hollywood luminaries as Cleavant Derricks, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifers Holliday and Hudson a run for their money) are the spectacular Ra’shun and Kent, the former doing James Brown and Little Richard proud as the unrestrainedly outrageous force of nature that is James “Thunder” Early, the latter acing every scene-stealing Effie White moment including but not limited to an “(And I Am Telling You) I’m Not Going” that rips your heart out by making the showstopper as much about digging deep into Effie’s pain as it is about vocal pyrotechnics.

 Assistant choreographer/scenic designer Salemah Gabriel keeps the set simple the better to showcase La Tanya Louis’s dazzling array of built-from-scratch costumes topped by wig/hair expert Byron Batista’s multitude of ‘60s and ‘70s dos lit with Vegas-ready flash by James Smith III and Chris Wehba, and Dreamgirls sounds as sensational as it looks thanks to music director-conductor Darrell Alston and the band* and sound designer Sean Petersen.

Deanna Anthony is assistant director/stage manager. Jania Foxworth plays Effie on alternate weekends.

From the bubbly charms of Hairspray and Legally Blonde to the hard rock punch of American Idiot to a Spring Awakening I called “truly in a class by itself,” Cupcake Theater has established itself as a force in SoCal musical theater. Dreamgirls is Cupcake at its standing-ovation best.

*Jon Butterworth, Ethan Chiampas, Andrew Hudson, and Lauralie Pow

Cupcake Theater, 11020 Magnolia Blvd., North Hollywood.
www.cupcaketheater.com

–Steven Stanley
August 10, 2018

Tags: Cupcake Studio, Los Angeles Theater Review, Michael Bennett