Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holliday Sing ‘And I Am Telling You’ Duet

It was a Dreamgirls dream come true for Jennifer Hudson and Jennifer Holliday.

On the Wednesday, Sept. 24 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, host Jennifer Hudson teamed up with Broadway legend Jennifer Holliday for a powerhouse duet of “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” — the signature showstopper from Dreamgirls that first made Holliday a star in 1981 and later won Hudson an Oscar in the 2006 film adaptation.

The two Jennifers belted side-by-side on Hudson’s daytime stage, trading verses and riffs along the way.

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“Can we give the future Effie’s an example of what they’re going to do in the future?” Hudson said before the performance began, referencing the role they both played, Effie White.

Hudson then let Holliday sing the song’s iconic final note as the studio audience erupted into cheers.

It was a moment that marked a rare meeting of Dreamgirls’ past and present, showcasing the vocal fireworks that have defined Henry Krieger and Tom Eyen’s song for more than four decades.

Hudson, 44, has long credited Holliday, 64, as a musical inspiration. She even thanked Holliday while accepting her Best Supporting Actress Academy Award, something Holliday brought up during their sit-down together.

“I know I’ve told you before, but that moment when you won your Oscar and you ran back with urgency to shout my name over the music? When you just said, ‘And Jennifer Holliday, too!’ I was like, ‘Yes, I’m a winner, too!’ ” Holliday shared.

“So many people forget their husbands and everybody when they do their Oscars speech, but you ran back with urgency. And that, I carry in my heart forever,” she added. “So I just wanted to let you know that I heard it, I got it, and it meant so much to me, even to this day, 15 years later. It still means so much to me.”

Dreamgirls is one of the great American musicals. Inspired in part by the rise of Motown and girl groups of the 1960s and 1970s, the show follows a trio of young Black women navigating the highs and heartbreaks of the music industry.

Direction and choreographed by Michael Bennett (the visionary behind A Chorus Line), Dreamgirls was an immediate sensation when it premiered on Broadway in 1981, shooting Holliday, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Loretta Devine to stardom. It went on to win six Tony Awards including a trophy for Holliday.

Over the years since, songs from Eyen and Krieger’s score have become musical theater staples like “One Night Only,” “I Am Changing,” “Dreamgirls,” “Steppin’ to the Bad Side” and of course, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.”

The 2006 big-screen adaptation brought a whole new audience to Dreamgirls, thanks to it’s superstar cast (Beyoncé, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Anika Noni Rose and more). A decade later, a celebrated 2016 London revival won its Effie, Amber Riley, an Olivier Award.

Now, Dreamgirls is headed back to the boards with a first-ever Broadway revival set to open in fall 2026.

Camille A. Brown — a five-time Tony Award nominee known for her work on Gypsy, Hell’s Kitchen, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf and Once on This Island — will direct and choreograph the new production. A worldwide talent search has been launched to find its stars.

And while no Effie has been picked just yet, Holliday already offered her advice to whomever gets to play her next, telling Hudson that “you have to find a place in your mind in your center to keep Effie fresh.”

“[You can’t] just say, ‘Okay, right here I sing this little thing and make a trick and they all applaud.’ No, every night can be different because you can feel every night. You have to feel it,” Holliday said. “But then after Effie is done, take Effie off. Enjoy your new found success, but also make sure that you get to shine in your own home on your own self so you know that you’re worthy and you don’t have to suffer Effie’s fate.”

The Jennifer Hudson Show airs weekdays in syndication (check local listings).