DREAM PROJECT LONG ROAD COULD LEAD TO OSCAR WINS.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer

`Dreamgirls'' opens at a theater near you on Monday.

But it has never been far from moviegoers' consciousness this year.

Portions of it played to standing ovations at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Its stars -- Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and newcomer Jennifer Hudson, in particular -- have been making the rounds of talk shows for weeks now, stumping for the film.

And nine days ago, ``Dreamgirls'' opened a special road-show engagement at Hollywood's ArcLight, where a $25 ticket would get you a commemorative program and a chance to be the first on your block to hear Hudson sing ``And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going.'' (See sidebar.)

For Bill Condon, who directed and adapted the Broadway musical for the screen, the movie's arrival nationwide is a welcome relief.

``You have no idea,'' Condon says. ``I've been editing a million feet of film since May, obsessing over it, and I'm sick of thinking about it.

``I want people to see it, not just hear about it.''

``(DreamWorks marketing executive) Terry Press has done a great job of positioning the movie,'' Condon adds. ``But it's a risky venture.

`A real musical'

``It's a musical, a real musical, not a halfhearted thing. So we'll see if people are interested.''

If the sold-out road show engagements in Hollywood, New York and San Francisco are any indication, it would seem that Condon's movie will follow the model set by the 2002 Oscar-winning ``Chicago'' (which Condon also wrote).

The universality of the show's story itself may be the key to its potential success. ``Dreamgirls,'' first performed on Broadway in 1981, is a show-biz tale, the saga of a fussing- and-feuding Supremes-style 1960s girl group, the Dreams.

Big names

The movie stars Beyonce as the pretty, Diana Ross-like vocalist, Foxx as the group's controlling manager and newcomer Hudson as the soulful, take-no-prisoners diva Effie White, the group's one-time lead singer who's thrown over in a bid for crossover appeal.

The movie also features Eddie Murphy doing his best work in years playing James ``Thunder'' Early, an r&b singer riding his own career roller coaster.

``It goes beyond the usual win-lose-win story line,'' says Broadway composer Henry Krieger, who returned to co-

write four new songs for the movie.

``It's about love, betrayal and reconciliation. It's real. It's relatable.

``Over the course of a lifetime, we all lose touch with people we love. Yet they're still family.''

Heavily nominated

Show-business types -- and those circling around them -- are giving the movie plenty of love. The Hollywood Foreign Press gave ``Dreamgirls'' five Golden Globe nominations, and Hudson picked up a supporting actress award from the New York Film Critics Circle. The movie has also been topping Movie City News' ``Gurus of Gold'' Oscar nominee prediction list for the past three months.

Movie City News' David Poland has championed the movie as the best picture winner, saying it has the ingredients for Oscar success.

`` `Dreamgirls' is a quality musical about show business,'' Poland says. ``It's a tear-jerker. It covers history. It roots for the underdog. You have a mighty performance from Jennifer Hudson, who is brand-new to most motion picture academy voters. You have a redeeming song for Beyonce that has gotten applause in every theater I've seen the movie in. Eddie Murphy kills, and people don't realize he's capable of this kind of performance.''

``You laugh, you cry, you cheer,'' he adds. ``What else are movies about? It's not a film-

critic movie. But it's a powerful movie movie. And that's what Oscar voters vote for.''

Condon won't venture a guess about the academy. He's just glad the early returns have been so promising.

``There's something about the material's flat-out emotionalism that appeals to people across the board,'' Condon says. ``And you know ... the costumes aren't too shabby, either.''

Glenn Whipp, [phone]

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The story behind `Dreamgirls'

Didn't know that ``Dreamgirls'' is based on the lives and careers of the Supremes? Well, then, Stop! In the Name of Love -- not to mention history -- and get the real-life dirt on the movie's fictional creations.

Character: Manipulative music biz honcho Curtis Taylor Jr. (Jamie Foxx)

Real-life counterpart: Motown founder Berry Gordy Jr.

Back story: Gordy carefully maintained artists' public image, typically squelching individual expression in favor of the Motown sound. He fathered a child with Supremes lead singer Diana Ross.

Foxx on the character: ``Curtis is the person who delivers the dream, but he can't execute himself. I know he was supposed to be designed on Berry Gordy, but to me, he's a combination of all the record executives I've met over the years. Some of them are in your face, some are laid-back. It's the laid-back ones who will really succeed over the long haul.''

Character: Photogenic singer Deena Jones (Beyonce)

Real-life counterpart: Diana Ross

Backstory: The Supremes initially rotated lead vocal duties - Florence Ballard sang the R&B, Mary Wilson took the ballads and Ross handled the mainstream pop songs. In 1964, Gordy made Ross lead singer believing that her higher register and good looks would give the group its greatest chance for Top 40 success. (Gordy was also sleeping with Ross at the time.)

The Supremes went on to record 12 No. 1 hits.

The line in the movie that sums up the switch: ``Do you know why I chose you to sing lead?'' Taylor asks Deena. ``Because your voice has no personality, no depth, only what I put in there.''

Character: James ``Thunder'' Early (Eddie Murphy)

Real-life counterpart: Jackie Wilson / James Brown with a dash of Marvin Gaye

Backstory: Early mixes the1950s R&B of Wilson with 1960s soul power of Brown with results that will be familiar to anyone who saw Murphy's Godfather of Soul sketches on ``Saturday Night Live.'' Later when Early attempts a social-message record ala Gaye's ``What's Going On,'' he wears the same kind of crocheted hat that Gaye favored at the time.

Jimmy got soul - but no voice: Gordy didn't want to release Gaye's 1971 social protest album ``What's Going On.'' He eventually relented, but was sure it would flop. In the movie, Taylor squelches Early's attempt at expressing himself, ``Patience,'' before it ever gets pressed.

Character: Make-no-waves singer Lorrell Robinson (Anika Noni Rose)

Real-life counterpart: Mary Wilson

Backstory: Stayed with The Supremes after Ross left in 1970 and until the group dissolved in 1976. Titled 1986 biography with a nod to the musical: ``Dreamgirl: My Life as a Supreme.''

Wilson on the movie's veracity: ``(It) is closer to the truth than they even know,'' she recently told Extra.

Character: Soulful singer Effie White (Jennifer Hudson)

Real-life counterpart: Florence Ballard

Backstory: Ballard hit the bottle after Gordy made Ross lead singer. Gordy fired her in 1967. Unlike Effie's story in ``Dreamgirls,'' Ballard's life had no happy ending. She fell into debt and obscurity, making a brief comeback in 1975 before dying of coronary thrombosis at the age of 32.

Effie's voice: While the character was clearly modeled on Ballard, Hudson says the singing style is pure Aretha Franklin. ``That's who I patterned my voice after,'' Hudson says. ``That wonderful, soulful, full-of-conviction voice.''

- Glenn Whipp

CAPTION(S):

11 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Supreme style

`Dreamgirls' making a splash in Oscar season

(2) Left: Eddie Murphy feels the groove with Anika Noni Rose, Beyonce Knowles and Jennifer Hudson.

(3 -- 5) Below: Sharon Leal, left, Knowles and Rose in the reconstituted Dreams; Jamie Foxx as the group's overbearing manager; and Murphy, bottom, in full soul mode.

(6) GORDY

(7) ROSS

(8) BROWN

(9) WILSON

(10) BALLARD

(11) CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: BALLARD, ROSS, WILSON

Box:

The story behind `Dreamgirls' (see text)