Jennifer Holliday, who originated the role of Effie White in Dreamgirls and won a Grammy for And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going, will be honored on October 22, 2026, as the Boston Arts Academy Foundation's 2026 Music Honoree, recognizing her Grammy-winning career and continued influence on arts and culture at the foundation's Boston gala.
The tribute, first reported by The Boston Globe, comes full circle for Holliday: Dreamgirls held its initial workshops in Boston, where early audiences supported the show before it moved to New York, and Holliday has said Boston crowds loved both the performers and the production itself. She's returned to the city repeatedly since then, appearing with the Boston Pops Gospel Choir and the Pops Esplanade Orchestra and performing at Boston's 2004 Fourth of July Celebration alongside David Lee Roth.
From Houston Debut to Effie White's Spotlight
Born in Houston, Holliday made her Broadway debut in 1980 at age 19, starring in a revival of the gospel musical Your Arms Too Short to Box with God, according to WBSS Media. A year later she originated Effie White in the original Broadway cast of Dreamgirls, where the creative team moved her signature number to the end of the first act, Holliday has said. The performance earned her a Tony Award, and she reprised the role several times afterward, including on Dreamgirls' first U.S. tour in 1983.
Dreamgirls' Broadway Run and Its Hollywood Encore
The original Broadway production of Dreamgirls premiered on December 20, 1981, at the Imperial Theatre in New York and featured a majority-Black ensemble, drawing inspiration from the 1960s R&B industry, particularly the Supremes, according to Broadway World. The show toured around the world and closed in 1985 after 1,521 performances, winning six Tony Awards along the way. Holliday has said Dreamgirls was an unprecedented multimillion-dollar Black show for its era, and that the LGBTQ community helped keep it alive over the years through drag performances and devoted enthusiasm.
Dreamgirls was adapted into an award-winning film in 2006 starring Beyoncé and Jennifer Hudson, whose portrayal of Effie White won her the Best Supporting Actress Oscar; Hudson thanked Holliday in her acceptance speech, the Globe reported. Hudson invited Holliday onto her talk show earlier this year to discuss the character's legacy, and Hudson is now producing a new Broadway revival of Dreamgirls set to debut this fall as the show marks its 45th anniversary, with Camille A. Brown directing and choreographing, per the same report.
Holliday on Broadway's Gains and Its Rising Price Tag
Holliday has said Broadway's landscape has become more inclusive, open and outreaching since her debut, but she's also warned that climbing production costs could hurt the industry, noting that many new shows can't afford to stay open beyond three months. She still attends regional and high school productions of Dreamgirls, and has said young people have rediscovered her during what she calls the third act of her life and career — a stretch that includes her 2018 album Fresh Takes and her 2025 live album Love Songs. In 2016, she also starred as Shug Avery in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple.
A Masquerade Ball With a $2 Million Ask at Fenway
This year's BAAF Honors will take place October 22 at the MGM Music Hall at Fenway under the theme Come Dream With Us: A Masquerade Ball, with organizers setting an ambitious $2 million fundraising goal, according to PR Newswire. Massachusetts Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll is serving as honorary chair, alongside event co-chairs Jill and Dean Bosco of CliftonLarsonAllen.
Holliday joins a roster of honorees that includes Boston Common Golf President Mark Lev for Lifetime Achievement, Delta Air Lines executive Candice Stover for Civic Responsibility, Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival founders Stephanie Tavares-Rance and Floyd Rance for TV and Film, designer Daniela Corte for Fashion, and interior designer Ken Fulk for Visual Art, according to Boston Arts Academy. The evening also marks foundation President and CEO Denella Clark's 10th anniversary leading the organization.
Denella Clark on Closing the Opportunity Gap
Clark has said talent is evenly distributed but opportunity is not — a philosophy she has tied directly to the foundation's push to widen arts access for the city's youth. She's also expressed gratitude for Holliday's support of the foundation, according to the Globe.
Boston Arts Academy's Funding Gap and Celebrity Support
Boston Arts Academy, founded in 1998, is Boston's only public high school for visual and performing arts. It's housed in a $125 million, 153,000-square-foot facility at 174 Ipswich Street in Fenway that opened in 2022 with a STEAM lab and a 500-seat theater, according to The Boston Sun. The school has maintained a 97% college acceptance rate among its graduating classes for six consecutive years, per the same outlet.
That success comes even as federal cuts to arts grants have burdened efforts to expand theater access for young patrons and aspiring artists, the Globe has reported. Boston Arts Academy Foundation exists to help close that gap, supporting the school's operating costs and arts programming that Boston Public Schools funding doesn't cover; previous BAAF Honors evenings have raised nearly $1.7 million in a single night toward that mission, according to Boston Arts Academy Foundation. Celebrity backing for the foundation isn't unprecedented, either — R&B group New Edition donated $25,000 to the foundation in August 2025 during the city's official New Edition Day celebration.
Holliday's Martha's Vineyard Preview Before Boston's Spotlight
Before the Fenway gala, Holliday heads to Martha's Vineyard this Sunday, August 9, where she'll appear at BAAF's Honors on Island to discuss the transformative power of arts and culture. Boston Globe culture columnist and deputy managing editor Jeneé Osterheldt will interview her at the event, according to the same paper's report. Holliday also received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music in 2000, a nod to the same city that will host her October tribute.
