“I was nervous about finding the right kind of talent — you need such a specific vocal type to pull this off — but they all came together, even though we hit a few speed bumps,” Rabin explains. “This is the most challenging show I have directed in the six years Ignite’s been around. There are so many scenes and so many costumes, so many switches from one time period to the next and moves from to city to city. I really had to come up with some creative staging and scenic settings to differentiate everything, but we overcame that.”
Now it’s smooth sailing for the soul-music-infused classic with an all-African-American cast. “I think this is a great time of year to put Dreamgirls on, with a new year coming up,” Rabin adds. “It’s big and flashy and a sparkly way to end the year and our season.”
Dreamgirls opens tonight at 7:30 p.m. and runs through January 18 at the Aurora Fox, 9900 East Colfax Avenue in Aurora; for info and tickets, $19 to $27, go to ignitetheatre.com.
Fridays, Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m.; Mon., Jan. 5, 7:30 p.m. Starts: Dec. 27. Continues through Jan. 18, 2014
