Amber Riley will make her West End debut this year in the UK premiere of the Tony-Award® winning musical Dreamgirls. 

The American actress and singer best known for her role as Mercedes Jones in Glee, will play soulful singer Effie White in the production which will open at the Savoy Theatre with performances from November 2016. 

“I am so honoured and excited to not only be playing such an iconic role, but also to be working with Sonia Friedman and Casey Nicholaw. Working on the West End is now a dream realised, I just feel like this is going to be something special!” says Amber.

Olivier and Tony-Award® winning Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Disney’s Aladdin and Something Rotten!) will direct and choreograph Dreamgirls and says: “I am beyond thrilled to be directing and choreographing Dreamgirls in the West End. It was one of the first shows I saw when I moved to New York in 1982 and has been my favourite show ever since. We've begun to assemble a terrific cast of actors here in the UK. We also have a terrific design team lined up - it's going to be a smart and sexy production. I'm so excited about working with Amber. I loved her on Glee and when her name came up for this, I thought - Wow, I think she could be incredible - and then when she came in to audition for us, she blew us away!”

Inspired by R&B music acts in 1960s America, Dreamgirls transports you to a revolutionary time in American music history. Dreamgirls charts the tumultuous journey of a young female singing trio, from Chicago, Illinois called ‘The Dreams’, as they learn the hard lesson that show business is as tough as it is fabulous and features the classic songs And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, I Am Changing and One Night Only.

The original Broadway production of Dreamgirls, directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett opened in 1981 and subsequently won six Tony Awards®. The original cast recording won two Grammy awards for Best Musical Album and Best Vocal Performance for Jennifer Holliday’s And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. In 2006 it was adapted into an Oscar winning motion picture starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx.

For more information visit dreamgirlswestend.com