Sonia Friedman is producing the production, which marks the 1981 musical's London debut. It could be an interesting West End season with Dreamgirls, about the story of a girl group on the rise, going up against the jukebox musical Motown. The latter is slated to arrive in London later this year, though official plans have not been announced.
Dreamgirls features music by Henry Krieger and book and lyrics by Tom Eyen. The late Michael Bennett directed and choreographed the original Broadway production; Bennett won a Tony Award for the show's choreography.
Nicholaw is currently represented on Broadway with Aladdin, The Book of Mormon and the new musical Something Rotten! He won a Tony Award for co-directing The Book of Mormon and has been Tony nominated for his work on Aladdin, Spamalot and The Drowsy Chaperone.
London auditions for Dreamgirls are slated to begin in May.
It has not been revealed whether the London premiere will reflect the updated version of Dreamgirls that toured the U.S. in late 2009. That production, which followed the successful 2006 film, incorporated the song "Listen," originally penned for Beyoncé on screen.