Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks) by Condon, Bill; James, David; Gottfried, Martin; Coker, Cheo Hodari
Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks)
The Official Companion to the Oscar-Winning Cinematic Triumphs and Motown History
The Official Companion to the Oscar-Winning Cinematic Triumphs and Motown History
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical (Newmarket Pictorial Moviebooks)
- Author: Bill Condon, David James, Martin Gottfried, and Cheo Hodari Coker
- Publisher: Newmarket Press, New York
- Publication Date: 2007
- ISBN-13: 9781557047373 (Paperback) / 9781557047458 (Hardcover)
- Edition Details: First Edition, Standard Release.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium high-gloss illustrated heavy card wrappers with a reinforced spine (Softcover Edition).
- Physical Format: Quarto (4to), 192 pages. Lavishly illustrated with over 200 full-colour production stills, original concept paintings, detailed costume designs, storyboards, and rare archival Motown photography.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Good (G)
- Exterior / Wraps: The high-gloss illustrated wrappers display visible, standard shelf wear consistent with handling. Minor creasing is present along the spine edge and front cover corners, with soft rubbing along the perimeter tips. The spine remains structurally sound, intact, and firmly attached, showing moderate surface handling friction.
- Interior: The internal binding remains secure and complete. Pages are textually clean and complete, showing a gentle, uniform age-toning appropriate for 2007 paper stock. A few light cosmetic handling marks or superficial corner folds may be present, but the interior remains entirely free of text highlighting, structural separations, or liquid damage. The extensive colour photography remains bright, vivid, and highly presentation-worthy.
- The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued for Softcover Release)
Synopsis & Historical Value
Dreamgirls: The Movie Musical serves as the definitive, beautifully produced official companion volume to Bill Condon's critically acclaimed, Academy Award-winning cinematic adaptation of the legendary 1981 Broadway musical. Richly contextualised, the book documents the dramatic rise of "The Dreams"—a 1960s Detroit soul trio—capturing the high personal cost of crossover commercial success, ambition, and institutional betrayal against the backdrop of the historic Motown revolution.
Beyond its function as a behind-the-scenes movie book, the text features exclusive, long-form essays by distinguished musical theatre historian Martin Gottfried and veteran cultural journalist Cheo Hodari Coker. The authors masterfully chart the artistic evolution of the story from Michael Bennett's original stage production to the modern screen, alongside brilliant commentary regarding the real-world musical icons who inspired it. Enhanced by more than 200 vivid visuals, it is an essential cultural chronicle for collectors of modern cinema and musical history.
Author Profiles
- Bill Condon: An Academy Award-winning American director and screenwriter renowned for his exceptional contributions to musical and dramatic cinema. He directed and adapted the screenplay for Dreamgirls, following his celebrated screenwriting work on Chicago and his Oscar win for Gods and Monsters.
- David James: A world-class unit production photographer whose striking, high-contrast imagery has defined the visual archives of numerous major Hollywood musical and historical epics.
- Martin Gottfried: One of America's most respected and prolific drama critics and authors, celebrated for definitive theatrical volumes such as Broadway Musicals and All His Jazz: The Life and Death of Bob Fosse.
- Cheo Hodari Coker: An acclaimed journalist, author, and television producer known for his profound documentation of contemporary music history, including his landmark biography Unbelievable: The Life, Death, and Afterlife of the Notorious B.I.G.
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