• The film "Dreamgirls" is returning to Detroit for a 20th-anniversary screening on April 4 and 5.
• The event will be hosted by Raven-Symoné and feature a live performance by Jennifer Holliday, Broadway's original Effie White.
• This special screening will take place at the Music Hall Center for the Performing Arts over Easter weekend.

“One night only?” Try Easter weekend.

The velvet curtains are rising again for “Dreamgirls,” the landmark musical-turned-film about the meteoric rise of a 1960s girl group. On April 4-5, the 2006 film returns to the big screen in Detroit for its 20th anniversary — and it’s not just a screening. It’s a full-fledged homecoming.

The event will include a live appearance by Tony winner Jennifer Holliday, who played lead character Effie White in the original 1981 Broadway production of "Dreamgirls" and whose showstopping performance of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” made the tune an anthem of survival and self-worth.

Hosting the celebration will be Raven-Symoné, the actress, singer and producer whose career covers everything from “The Cosby Show” to Disney Channel stardom. Screenings will be at 7 p.m. April 4 and 3 p.m. April 5.

When the Motown-inspired musical “Dreamgirls” stormed Broadway, it was revolutionary. With an all-Black cast at its center, the story follows girl group the Dreams as its members navigate love, betrayal and the machinery of the music industry. It blended dialogue and music seamlessly, staged numbers with cinematic sweep and demanded powerhouse vocals long before “vocal Olympics” became a cultural sport.

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The 2006 film adaptation starred Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose and Jennifer Hudson, whose performance as Effie won her the Oscar as that year's best supporting actress.

Now, two decades later, the film’s return feels especially resonant. The Easter weekend timing is no accident. Organizers are framing the event as a celebration of resurrection and renewal — not only spiritual, but also cultural. What was powerful then, they argue, still rises now.

Holliday’s live performance promises to bridge Broadway history with the present, reminding audiences that before there was an Effie on film, there was the definitive stage Effie — a woman who was raw and wounded but unwilling to fade into the background.

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And yes, the question hangs in the air like a held note: Will Holliday sing?

All signs point to yes.

How to get tickets

Tickets for the screenings start at $67.90 and are available through the Detroit Music Hall box office, musichall.org and Ticketmaster. The director’s extended edition of “Dreamgirls” is also currently available to buy or rent digitally.