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This Article Contains Spoilers - WARNING: This article contains major spoilers. If you do not wish to know vital information on plot / character elements in a story, you may not wish to read beyond this warning: We hold no responsibility for any negative effects these facts may have on your enjoyment of said media should you continue. That is all.

♫ You are my dream... all the things I could never be. They'll never take my dream from me! ♫
~ Curtis Taylor, Jr. to Deena Jones in "When I First Saw You".
♫ And oh, how impossible it seems that somehow I could destroy my dream. ♫
~ Curtis Taylor, Jr. is forced to admit his failure near the end of the musical.
Deena, you know why I chose you to sing lead? Because your voice... has no personality. No depth. Except for what I put in there.
~ Curtis Taylor, Jr. to Deena Jones in the 2006 film adaptation of Dreamgirls.
♫ Your dreams are dangerous. Look what they've done to you! And where do you stop? Where do you draw the line? You don't care about other people's dreams, like Effie's, like mine. That's why I'm going! ♫
~ Deena Jones to Curtis Taylor, Jr.

Curtis Taylor, Jr. is the main antagonist of the musical Dreamgirls. He is loosely based on record producer Berry Gordy, Jr., creator of Motown Records. The character was portrayed in the original 1981 Broadway production of Dreamgirls by Ben Harney and in its 2006 film adaptation by Jamie Foxx, who also played Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and Bats in Baby Driver. Several other actors have played Curtis Taylor, Jr. in other productions of Dreamgirls, such as Joe Aaron Reid in the 2016 West End production.

Portrayals[]

Biography[]

Curtis begins as a conniving used-car dealer hoping to break into the music business. His first approach is to convince popular soul-singer James 'Thunder' Early to record a single on his label. He hangs around backstage during a talent show where Early will perform, hoping to get a word with him, and learns that Early's two backup singers have quit. Curtis also sees three girls - Lorrell, Deena, and Effie, the Dreamettes, enter the contest, and bribes the judge to make sure they lose. He then offers them to Early as replacement backup singers, and convinces the girls to take the chance at fame by letting him be their manager.

Curtis soon comes to clash with Jimmy's manager, Marty, but Curtis promises Jimmy he can help him cross over from 'Race' music onto the mainstream Pop charts. Jimmy and the Dreamettes record a song written by Effie's brother C.C. The song is a hit, until a white group does their own cover and steals their thunder. More determined than ever to make a success, Curtis turns to payola, using bribes and mob contacts to make sure DJs only play his version of the songs. At this time, Curtis and Effie, the Dreamette's lead singer, begin a relationship.

When Jimmy reaches the No. 1 spot, Marty quits, and Curtis becomes Jimmy's new manager. He books Jimmy for a gig in Miami, then realizes the crowd finds the three Dreamettes more appealing. He moves Jimmy to the background, and turns the girls into a solo act. Despite her talent, Curtis decides that Effie is too loud and not pretty enough to ensure success, so he makes the less talented Deena the lead singer. With Deena in the lead, the new group, the Dreams, is a success, but Effie begins to rebel, and the group starts quarreling. Effie begins to have violent outbursts and accuses Deena of sleeping with Curtis. Eventually, Curtis drops her from the group and replaces her with another girl. Though Effie begs him not to leave her, Curtis walks away, and is soon married to Deena. It is later revealed that Effie was pregnant with Curtis' child at this time.

Seven years later, Curtis' control is affecting everyone else. Deena wants to break out of singing and be a serious actress, but Curtis refuses to let her do anything without his approval. Jimmy is frustrated with his lack of success after Curtis rebrands him as a mellow pop-singer. When Jimmy rebels on TV and does an improvised rap, Curtis fires him. And C.C. is angry at Curtis' constant rearranging of his songs to make them more "dance-able." When Curtis wants to record C.C.'s new love song as a disco, C.C. quits and finds Effie, who has started a nightclub act with Marty. C.C. offers the song to Effie, who records the song. When Curtis learns of this, the gloves come off. He tries to destroy Effie again by having the Dreams cover it, and paying DJs to play his version instead of Effie's. However, Effie, Marty and C.C. fight back. They threaten to reveal Curtis' shady dealings to the Feds if Curtis does not back down. When Deena learns of Curtis' attempt to stop Effie, she leaves him for good to start her own career.

Shortly after, the Dreams break up, but reconcile as friends. Curtis is left alone, and forced to admit that he destroyed his own dreams.

Gallery[]

Images[]

2006 film adaptation[]

Videos[]

Original 1981 production[]

2006 film adaptation[]

Trivia[]

  • Ben Harney won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of Curtis Taylor, Jr. in the original Broadway production of Dreamgirls.
  • The 2006 film adaptation's version of Curtis Taylor Jr., deemed a "thinly veiled portrayal" of Berry Gordy, made the character's connection to Gordy and Motown more explicit than the original musical, such as moving the setting of the story from Chicago to Detroit. On the film, Gordy stated: "The movie definitely bothered me. It personally put me in a bad light. I clearly don’t want our young people to think you have to be a gangster ripping people off and exploiting them to succeed in ANY kind of business. We need role models today; I had them and I know how import it is for young people to have them. Motown is a musical institution. It’s an institution for all people to look up to, to try to understand how it happened, why it happened and understand the truth of what it was. I was very upset about that—more than about me being depicted as a slick crook, hustler who cheated the government and everyone else he came in contact with." [1] Dreamworks and Paramount has since issued an apology to Gordy, emphasizing the musical as a mere fictional work homaging Motown and acknowledging its difference from Motown's actual story, which Gordy accepted.
  • Although Curtis is loosely based on Berry Gordy, Jr., Berry Gordy still exists in Dreamgirls, as Lorrell mentions the Supremes and the Marvelettes, acts in Gordy's label Motown Records, in a line about the girl groups she hopes the Dreamettes will be as famous as, and Diana Ross, former lead of the Supremes and inspiration for Deena Jones, is referenced by Deena in the original Act II opening: "Movies are my new ambition and Diana needs some competition". The Supremes themselves are depicted as the Dreams' primary competition, as the press asks Deena in the original Act II opening how she feels to have topped the Supremes in the charts.
  • In real life, Berry Gordy was a good man and the hero and he was nothing like Curtis taylor Jr who was labeled as the villain.
  • The lyrics of the musical's titular song "Dreamgirls" can be interpreted as being about how Curtis views Deena.
    • "Every man has his own special dream / And that dream's just about to come true/Life's not as bad as it may seem if you open your eyes to what's in front of you" reflects lines Curtis sings to Deena in the song "When I First Saw You": "When I first saw you/I said oh my, that's a dream/I needed a dream when it all seemed to go bad/Then I found you" and "You are my dream/Who could believe they could ever come true?"
    • "I'm not the dream that you had before/I'm the dream that will give you more and more" reflects Curtis making Deena the lead in place of Effie.
    • "We're your dreamgirls/Dreamgirls will never leave you" parallels Curtis trying to convince Deena not to leave him near the end of the musical: "You are my dreams / You can never leave me, no"

References[]

  1. Berry Gordy Breaks Silence About Dreamgirls. Retrieved on January 20, 2023.
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