Robert Cornelius Looks at Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls, the Broadway musical based on the showbiz aspirations of legends like Little Richard, James Brown, Diana Ross and the Supremes, is about as perfect as a musical can be.

It lands running with a wonderful percussive bongo beat and takes us on a roller coaster ride through the struggles Black entertainers faced in the past and how they changed the world for the better.

The breakout song “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” became a #1 hit on the R&B Billboard charts when it was released in 1982 and launched Jennifer Holliday into superstardom.

Our friend musician and actor Robert Cornelius is now playing the role of music producer Marty in the new production of Dreamgirls at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, NJ.

BUY TICKETS: https://www.mccarter.org/

As the nephew of Soul Train producer and host Don Cornelius, Robert was a regular dancer in his teens on the show and subsequently became an indie music fixture as a member of the alt-pop music group Poi Dog Pondering.

Today musician Robert Cornelis joins us to look back on his amazing career, being part of Black music royalty and why Dreamgirls and Jennifer Holidays torch song “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” will never leave our hearts.