"Colored people on TV!" As a child growing up in a black neighborhood in the late 60s, if someone knew a black entertainer or group was appearing on television, word spread quickly and all the kids would gleefully scamper inside to marvel at the rare site of Negroes on their family's 12 inch black and white televisions. Clean cut and statuesque, the likes of Smokey Robinson, Aretha Franklin, and even The Jackson 5 had us squealing and talking about the performances for days. My anticipation at the start of the movie "Dreamgirls" evoked this nostalgic look at how black singers and musicians were first experienced by many in pre-civil rights America. Now more glamorous, colorful, and full of finger-popping and hip swinging, this musical's modern movie version gives us some insight into the struggles of blacks breaking into the music industry. The experiences of some of Detroit's most talented gives us the opportunity to be informed while being entertained, but just like the musical "West Side Story" provided insight into racial and class conflict...well, it's only a musical and sort of fluffy and I guess that's why I'm reviewing this disc instead of the regular guy.