At the Apollo, a Role in ‘Dreamgirls’ Draws Hundreds of Hopefuls
By WINTER MILLER
Published: November 22, 2008
Blame two Jennifers — a generation apart — for the long line of young women outside the Apollo Theater in Harlem on Saturday morning,
waiting hours in chilly weather for their chance to audition for a national tour of the musical “Dreamgirls.” The first Jennifer, Ms. Holiday, was a telephone operator who was discovered at an open call and who won raves, and the Tony for best actress, in 1982 in her Broadway debut as Effie White, the character whose sound and figure were deemed by her manager (and lover) as too big and too black to make it in a group modeled after the Supremes.
The second Jennifer, Ms. Hudson, an “American Idol” contestant, played Effie to Oscar and Golden Globe wins for Best Supporting Actress in the 2006 movie.
Hoping that life imitates life imitating art and mints a third enchanted Effie, 414 shivering hopefuls from across the country started gathering outside the Apollo at 4:30 a.m. Saturday.
Third in line was Lorena Deamer, 23, who had flown from Baton Rouge, La., with her mother, Betty, 63, arriving in New York at 1 a.m. “If I was in Antarctica, I would have flown all the way from Antarctica,” said Ms. Deamer, a secretary who figured she spent about $1,800 on the trip.
Martina Bruno, 27, sings classical music in the subway under a banner that reads “The Angel of New York.” She lives with her parents in Queens and has been singing she was 4. “I’d take any part, but it’s important to get Effie,” she said. “I’ve been doing this for so long, I really gotta show something for it.”
The producer of the show, John Breglio, an entertainment lawyer with ties to the original Broadway production, said the location of the audition was particularly noteworthy. “We’re hoping to find the next Effie, Deena and Lorrell,” he said. “If we can find them in Harlem, that would be my dream.”
Mr. Breglio chose the Apollo to kick off the national tour next year to coincide with the theater’s 75th anniversary and for dramatic reasons: the show’s opening scene is set at the Apollo. Jay Binder, the casting director who selected Ms. Hudson during an open call, reached out to local gospel choirs, as well as churches in Atlanta and Detroit, to attract singers.
Virlinda R. Stanton, from Tyler, Tex., cut costs by spending Friday night at La Guardia Airport after her flight arrived. Ms. Stanton, who said she was 24 and a licensed funeral director and embalmer, sings at casinos and parties. Her mother was baby-sitting her 9-year-old daughter. If she were to get the role of Effie, she said, three generations would share a room on tour.
“There’s an outrageous, unreasonable expectation for what this young woman needs to do for us,” said Robert Longbottom, the show’s director, who said he was holding out for an unknown, hoping to mold his own legend. “I want my Effie,” he said.
Inside, singers were herded into holding rooms. They applied lipstick, slipped on heels and steadied their nerves amid a muffled din of hums and warm-up scales. One by one, they entered from stage right, rubbed the stub of the Apollo’s Tree of Hope that amateur night hopefuls — including Ella Fitzgerald, James Brown and Michael Jackson — have been touching since 1934.
Standing on a yellow X, each singer faced the row of blank faces of those who would decide if their allotted 16 bars merited a second audition. Behind the judges, 1,500 empty red seats offered the first glimpse of what could be a packed house a year from now, and perhaps the beginning of the next Effie-to-riches fairy tale.
Ms. Bruno stepped up and belted gospel. After, stepping into the sunlight, she mused, “I tried my best, got here at 5:30.”
The next Effie is still weeks or months from being crowned. There are more auditions, then callbacks, as the search could go on as long as May or June.
"Set out each day believing in your dreams. Know without a doubt that you were made for amazing things."
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