Wait... Dreamgirls Hasn’t Been on Broadway Since 1987?!

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

I had to look it up just to make sure I wasn’t imagining things—but no, it’s real. Dreamgirls hasn’t been on Broadway since 1987. That’s thirty-seven years without one of the most iconic, influential, and straight-up thrilling musicals ever written gracing a New York stage. Not a revival, not a concert, not a limited run. Nothing.

How??

This is Dreamgirls. This is “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” the kind of eleven o’clock number that makes you forget to breathe. This is a musical that shaped generations of performers, electrified audiences, and gave Broadway one of its all-time greats in Jennifer Holliday. And yet, somehow, nearly four decades later… radio silence.

Yes, there was the incredible West End revival a few years back—with Amber Riley absolutely tearing the roof off the Savoy Theatre. That production proved that Dreamgirls still works. The material holds up, the story resonates, and the score? It’s still unstoppable. That revival even toured the UK and was beautifully filmed. But why hasn’t it made the leap back to Broadway?

What are we waiting for?

This is a show about ambition, fame, friendship, race, betrayal, and reinvention. It’s a glittering, gut-punch of a story, and it feels just as relevant now—maybe even more so—than it did in 1981. Broadway has the talent. Broadway has the tech. Broadway needs the glamour.

And let’s be real: there’s a whole generation of theatergoers who have never experienced Dreamgirls live. They’ve seen the movie. They’ve watched the Tony performances and bootlegs on YouTube. They’ve heard the cast albums. But they haven’t felt the moment Effie steps forward and unleashes that voice in person. They haven’t had that communal, goosebump-inducing experience of sitting in a theater as the Dreams come alive.

That’s something special. And it’s something Broadway’s been missing.

If we can revive Merrily, Cabaret, Company, and Caroline, or Change (all worthy, by the way)—we can absolutely make room for Dreamgirls. It’s a show that deserves to be seen, heard, and felt in the very city where it became a phenomenon.

So let’s bring it home. Find the cast, build the set, fire up the lights, and let those harmonies fly. It’s time. Broadway, Dreamgirls is ready for its encore.