The following appeared in the New York Daily News on January 20, 2016
Santiago Felipe/Getty Images. Rema Webb was a hit at 42West.
At Monday’s Arts for All benefit in Midtown, Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson enjoyed performances by two singers who know what it’s like to walk a mile in her shoes.
First, Hudson (inset) cheered on Rema Webb, who stars alongside her in Broadway’s “The Color Purple.” Then she put her hands together for Jennifer Holliday, who plays the same role in the stage version of “Dreamgirls” that Hudson herself played in the 2006 film adaptation, co-starring Beyoncé.
According to one insider at the 42West theater, where it all went down, there wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Holliday was done.
“Holliday’s closing number from ‘Dreamgirls’ (‘And I Am Telling You’), brought the entire audience to their feet,” we’re told. “Many had tears in their eyes during the sentimental moment.”
Not one to grandstand, Holliday later met family members in the audience and smiled while photographers snapped away, without any regard for whether anything she said or did might end up on the Internet.
“I don’t know what a meme is, but whoever meme’d me let them do it,” she said to the fans that surrounded her. “Jennifer Holliday don’t take no selfless. I’m just real.”
