Henry Krieger

Henry Krieger began composing for Off-Off Broadway productions (and television’s Captain Kangaroo!) in his twenties. That led to his meeting playwright-lyricist Tom Eyen. Together with director-choreographer Michael Bennett, they created the long-running Broadway hit musical Dreamgirls. Opening at the end of 1981, that show won six Tony Awards® and Mr. Krieger was nominated for his now legendary music for which went on to win the Grammy Award for Best Original Cast Album. The song “And I’m Tellin’ You I’m Not Going” is one of Broadway’s most iconic show-stoppers and has become a standard. Dreamgirls was shortly followed on Broadway by The Tap Dance Kid, (1983) which had a healthy run, closing on the same day as Dreamgirls, which ran for nearly four years. A subsequent tour of the latter ended with a Broadway revival in 1987. Side Show (1997), which Mr. Krieger created with director, Robert Longbottom and book writer and lyricist, Bill Russell, garnered four Tony® nominations, including Best Score and Best Musical. Dreamgirls generated new success with new audiences as a Dreamworks film directed by Bill Condon in 2006. Mr. Krieger received three Academy Award nominations and won the Grammy Award for the song “Love You, I Do.” The film won two Oscars, including Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Hudson. In 2014, Mr. Condon went on to direct the acclaimed Broadway revival of Side Show. In 2016, Dreamgirls enjoyed its West End premiere, directed and choreographed by Casey Nicholaw. That production won two Olivier Awards, including Amber Riley as Best Actress in a Musical. Other musical theater credits include Romantic Poetry, Radio Girl, Lucky Duck, Kept, Up in the Air and I’ll Take It, produced by AMAS Musical Theatre.