“The women are not as confrontational as they are in the United States,” Longbottom said. “Pointing your finger at someone's face and chasing them around the stage and yelling at them was something that didn’t come naturally to this group of people.”
Kim So-hyang, who played Lorrell Robinson, one of the three singers, said she initially felt “resistant” to the director's demand for “what we Koreans considered overdoing it and exaggerated acting.”
Many Korean actresses hope to perform on Broadway one day. Like the women of Dreamgirls, who rose from the fringe to stardom, Korean musical performers have only recently begun enjoying a national following after years of being dismissed as crude imitators of a foreign art form.
Hong Ji-min, who plays Effie White, the show's full-figured, gospel-voiced lead singer, said she struggled to render the deep vocal flavor of the character.
But working with the composer, Henry Krieger, whom the actresses called Grandpa, was their own dream come true.
“We cry after each show,” Hong said. “This has a story that feels so close to our heart. It's about the show business. It's about having a dream.”
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