Dreamgirls Aims for 2004 Broadway Return

Dreamgirls, the 1981 musical about the rise of a Supremes-like singing trio, is heading back to Broadway. The New York Times reports that producer Scott Sanders obtained the rights to the musical this week, with plans to bring the show back to the Great White Way in 2004.

With music by Henry Krieger The Tap Dance Kid, Side Show and book and lyrics by Tom Eyen, Dreamgirls premiered at the Imperial Theatre on December 20, 1981, with direction and choreography by the late great Michael Bennett. It won six 1982 Tony Awards, famously losing out in the Best Musical category to Nine, which is also currently enjoying a successful return to Broadway.

Dreamgirls returned to Broadway briefly in 1987, when Bennett brought the national touring version of the show in for a five-month stay at the Ambassador Theatre. It was also presented in one-night-only concert form in 2001 when the Actors' Fund of America gathered an all-star Broadway cast to perform the beloved score.

Sanders who will produce under the name of his company, Creative Battery told the Times that he is close to signing a director for the project, which will reportedly cost more than $10 million.