Jennifer Holliday: The Original Dreamgirl

In 1982 I don't think I even knew what Broadway was, but Jennifer Holliday knew. Holiday portrayed Effie in the Broadway play Dreamgirls and she did an amazing job.

The movie version of Dreamgirls opened in December of 2006 and it's been the talk of Hollywood ever since. Everyone and their mother has been talking, shouting to the roof tops about Jennifer Hudson and her portrayal of Effie, the character that Jennifer Holliday made famous over 20 years ago.

Although I wasn't familiar with Holliday and her body of work, leading up to the Golden Globes and the Oscars I had seen quite a bit of her. She appeared to be making the rounds in Hollywood, giving interviews explaining how she felt about the movie remake of Dreamgirls. At first glance she came off kind of bitter. She appeared almost jealous of all of the success that Jennifer Hudson and the others had accumulated, so having seen bits of the movie and having heard Jennifer Hudson sing her version of the song "And I am telling you I'm not going", I decided to dig up what I could on Holliday's performance, and to say I was blown away would be a understatement.

Jennifer Holliday is amazing and her voice is more then incredible, so much so that after hearing her, any version of that song sounds second rate, and if you don't believe me then go to Youtube. On the popular video file sharing site you can see Holliday's performance at the 1982 Tony Awards, and it was amazing. This woman had and has a God given talent, and I'm not taking anything away from Hudson, I'm not, but Hudson's performance is by no stretch of the imagination anywhere close to Jennifer Holliday.

So, after hearing both performances I no longer thought of Holliday as a bitter old woman, jealous of some young chick's success. I instead viewed her as a woman that appeared to be a little less then happy that someone else was getting so much praise portraying a character that only went to great heights because she took it there, she opened that door. And although Jennifer Holliday reached a certain height of success, I personally don't believe that she got all the recognition she deserved.

Think about it, we live in an era where no talented artists like Britney Spears win Grammy's. We live in an era where Paris Hilton and Lindsey Lohan actually get reputable studios to produce their albums and their nothing more then studio artist. They look good, can't deny that, but they sound like crap. They have no real talent. Holliday, the Beatles, Jefferson Starship, Jimi Hendrix, these people where musical geniuses, and they had more talent then Spears, Paris Hilton, the whole list of American Idol rejects, put together, and while some of them went on to great fame and fortune, others like Holiday only gained slight success, while having enormous talent.

I personally think that it would have been nice if the studio as well as the producers would have acknowledged Holliday's achievement in making Dreamgirls what it was and what it is by giving her a cameo or something. It wouldn't have been the first time that a movie remake featured someone from the original cast. I think it's a nice touch.

So to all your Dreamgirls fans, before you start sending me hate mail, I'm not writing this piece to take anything away from the movie Dreamgirls or the great accomplishment of those involved. I'm writing this piece to say that before Beyonce and Jennifer Hudson there was another Dreamgirl, the original Dreamgirl and her Tony winning performance opened doors, doors that Hudson, Beyonce and other African American women are now able to walk threw a little easier and for that I say thank you!