dreamgirls auditions and director announced!

Based upon the story of musical acts such as The Supremes, The Shirelles, James Brown, Jackie Wilson, and others, Dreamgirls tells the story of a young female trio called The Dreams and their rise to fame from the 1960’s to the 1970’s. This musical story was brought to the screen in 2006 staring Jamie Fox, Beyonce Knowles, Eddie Murphy, and Jennifer Hudson. The song “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” was made famous by Jennifer Holliday who played the original Effie on Broadway.

Imagine is thrilled to announce auditions and our director for this upcoming production coming to Wall Street Night Club in February 2015. Auditions will take place on November 15-16 and times are now available on our website. More information about the audition process including a list of roles is also available. 

Doing justice to this score of Motown and Disco as director will be Imagine alum James Blackmon. James performed in our 2012 production of Hairspray but his background in theatre and music is far greater.  He studied theatre at The University of Alabama and The Ohio State University.

As an actor, James has appeared in numerous theatrical productions including, Hairspray, Showboat, The 1940’s Radio Hour, The Wizard of Oz, Hello Dolly, Peter Pan, Oliver, A Raisin In The Sun, Of Mice And Men, Pvt. Wars, and Waiting For Godot,.

As a director, James has directed dramas, comedies and musicals, including, The Lisbon Traviata, The Real Queen of Hearts Ain’t Even Pretty, Cyndi: An American Musical, and An Evening Of Love Songs For Lovers.

In addition to the theatre, James has been a musician practically his whole life.  He first started playing the piano at age 4 and has been a professional musician for 38 years having booked his 1st paid gig at age 8 as the church youth choir pianist.

As a musician, James was the Headline Entertainer at The Fine Arts Center, New Orleans, LA from September 2000 - March 2002 where he performed a Gospel & Jazz Brunch Show Every Sunday. Since 2005, James has been a Headline Entertainer at various clubs, festivals and venues all around Columbus, including de-Novo Bistro, Club Diversity, Side Bar 122, Art Crawl, and the Columbus Pride Festival.

From July 2007 - September 2009 James was the Headline Entertainer and Owner of James’ Club 88 Piano Bar and Café in Columbus, OH where he performed several nights a week, every week.  He then moved on to serve as a piano bar entertainer for Holland America Cruise Line until 2013.

Most recently, James and his newest vocal group Love United’s Unity performed the “Star Spangled Banner” at the historic Why Marriage Matters Rally For Marriage Equality in Cincinnati in August of 2014

James has recorded 2 CDs – Born Too Late, a collection of jazz standards, and Christmas Time Is Here, a disc of both sacred and secular holiday favorites.

James looks forward to casting the best talent of Columbus for this upcoming production of Dreamgirls. The performances will run February 20 – March 8.