Dreamgirls

Billy and I saw the movie Dreamgirls yesterday and LOVED it!! When I was searching for info on the web about this movie I came to an article that talked about Jennifer Hudson being the supporting actress but how she outshined the "actual" stars; Eddie Murphy, Jamie Foxx, and Beyonce. That was rather interesting to us as it seemed that the original story of Dreamgirls would have had Jennifer Hudson's character, Effie as the lead. Then I saw this response to that article written by a college theater student.

"I stumbled across your article titled "Stars of "Dreamgirls" upstaged by newcomer Hudson" I have to say the I was more than a little disgusted by the headline more than anything else. Even though the actual writer, storyline, musical, and the Tony Awards list Effie White as the lead actress/character and star of this musical/movie, she unfortunately keeps getting billed as not the star. Instead, I am forced to hear that Jamie Foxx, Beyonce Knowles and Eddie Murphy, who although they have substantial roles in this movie, and are listed as the stars, are not the stars. In case it slipped through the cracks, Dreamgirls is very clearly Effie's Story, not Deena's, not Curtis, and not Jimmy's. This still stands no matter how many songs were demanded to be written for Beyonce. As a theater major in college and one who understands how to differentiate between leads and supporting leads, there is only one thing that I can see happened here.
Jennifer Hudson (who swept the audience in this movie more so than anyone else), while having one amazing voice and powerful stage presence, was not as pretty, thin or as well known as Beyonce, which is why she is not being given credit as the lead.
It's funny that when plugging for a movie in your article, that portrays and scorns the shameful world of shoving the heavier less attractive yet more talented person to the back, you still find it in your world to be okay to do the same thing in real life with your article, I am hartily dissappointed and disgusted that people have apparently learned nothing from the movie, have not doen the research of this movie, and instead decide to bow down to prettier less talented actresses who make demands than to give the credit where the credit is due.
Jennifer Hudson is the star, don't be thrown just because she isn't a huge name yet, and because all publications see to give into this idea that Beyonce is the star, she is not, get it straight.
Thank You, Nicholas J. Clarey31 Dec 2006"

You gotta love people who tell it like it is! Go see the movie...it is worth all the hype!