5 “Totally Normal” Reasons to Stage Dreamgirls With a Practically All-White Cast
by Chris Peterson
Given the recent news out of the U.K., where a local theatre group somehow managed to cast Dreamgirls with a practically all-white principal cast, I thought it might be helpful to explore the “artistic reasoning” behind such a bold, historic, deeply confusing choice. After all, this is Dreamgirls, a musical rooted in Black music, Black artistry, Motown, image politics, and the entertainment industry’s long history of repackaging Black talent for white audiences.
So, in the spirit of fairness, here are five completely serious, definitely not sarcastic (wink wink) reasons a community theatre might decide to stage Dreamgirls with an all-white cast.
You really want audiences to focus on the music, not all that pesky context.
Sure, Dreamgirls is about a Black girl group navigating the music industry in the 1960s and 1970s. Sure, the show is inseparable from Motown, The Supremes, and the pressure on Black artists to change their sound and image to become more “marketable.” But who has time for historical context when there are high notes to belt?
Sometimes you just have to look at a musical about Black women fighting to be seen and think, “What if we removed the part where they’re Black women?”
You wanted to give your director a chance to say “I don’t see race” in the loudest possible way.
There are plenty of times when “I don’t see race” is already one of those phrases that makes everyone in the room quietly brace themselves. But saying it anywhere near Dreamgirls is a special achievement. That is like walking into Fiddler on the Roof and announcing, “For me, the Jewish part is really just subtext.”
At a certain point, “I don’t see race” stops sounding enlightened and starts sounding like you skimmed the Wikipedia summary, got distracted by the costumes, and called it a concept.
You enjoy making licensing companies update their contracts because apparently common sense needs paperwork.
We have already seen this happen before with Hairspray, when all-white productions caused enough controversy that the creators and licensing company eventually had to clarify that future productions should reflect the characters as written. Apparently, “do not remove the Black people from a musical about Black people” is the kind of thing that now needs to be spelled out in legally binding language.
You want your production photos to become a cautionary tale in theatre history.
Every theatre company dreams of publicity. Some get it through great performances, thoughtful direction, or stunning design. Others get it because the internet looks at their cast announcement and collectively says, “Wait, what?”
You wanted to stage Dreamgirls as a mystery.
Not the mystery of fame, friendship, ambition, or betrayal. More like, “Who approved this?” “Did anyone Google the show?” “Was there a meeting?” “Did anyone in that meeting raise their hand?”
Honestly, forget Clue. This is the real whodunit.
If it’s not clear at this point, all those reasons stated are b.s. And that is what makes this so fascinating. Bad concepts happen. But Dreamgirls, with hardly any Black people, is not just a bad concept; it is a full road trip in the wrong direction with snacks packed.
At the end of the day, no one is saying community theatre has to be perfect. But choosing the right show for your talent pool matters
If your theatre cannot cast Dreamgirls in a way that honors what Dreamgirls actually is, then the answer is very simple: do another show. There are thousands of musicals out there. Pick one that fits your company, your community, and your talent pool without requiring you to drain the cultural identity out of the material first.