FEBRUARY 23 8/7c

Dreamgirls

all about Dreamgirls

Dreamgirls, starring Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover and Beyoncé Knowles, airs FEBRUARY 23 (8:00-11:00 p.m., ET) on the ABC Television Network. The 2006 film garnered two Academy Award wins, with eight nominations, and three Golden Globe wins. Dreamgirls will be broadcast in HDTV format with 5.1-channel surround sound and Spanish audio.

Adapted from the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name, Dreamgirls covers the history and evolution of R&B music during the eras of doo-wop, soul, funk, disco and Motown. It follows the lives of Effie White (Hudson), Deena Jones (Knowles) and Lorrell Robinson (Rose), who form a singing trio from Detroit called The Dreamettes. After working with a manipulating agent and record executive, Curtis Taylor Jr. (Foxx), The Dreamettes rise to fame as background singers for James 'Thunder' Early (Murphy) and are transformed into the more pop-friendly Dreams. But as their careers grow, so does the conflict between them, especially when Curtis replaces Effie with Deena as both lead singer of The Dreams and as his romantic interest.

Dreamgirls stars Jennifer Hudson in her Academy Award winning-role as Effie White, Jamie Foxx as Curtis Taylor Jr., Eddie Murphy as James 'Thunder' Early, Danny Glover as Marty Madison, Beyoncé Knowles as Deena Jones, Anika Noni Rose as Lorrell Robinson, Keith Robinson as C.C. White, Sharon Leal as Michelle Morris and Hinton Battle as Wayne.

Dreamgirls is produced by DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures. The 2006 screenplay was written and directed by Bill Condon and adapted from the stage musical written by Tom Eyen. (CLOSED-CAPTIONED) (Broadcast in stereo where available)