Bill Condon writes and directs this musical drama following the meteoric rise of a 1960s all-girl vocal group. Based on the 1981 Broadway hit musical, the film follows singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson) and her school friends, Deena Jones (Beyonce Knowles) and Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose), aka The Dreamettes. They're a Chicago amateur vocal group who enter the famous amateur night at the legendary Harlem Apollo in New York singing a song by Effie's brother, CC (Keith Robinson), and come out on top. The girls meet sweet-talking Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx), a promoter and manager who in no time gets the star-struck gang the gig as back up vocalists for the famous Jimmy 'Thunder' Early (Eddie Murphy). The match is perfect and their combined career takes off. However, things soon get complicated when Lorrell begins dating married man Jimmy, and Effie starts getting busy with Curtis, and when the two acts part ways, The Dreamettes become famous in their own right, while Jimmy's career tanks in a mire of smooth-pop balladry.