A compilation of Hughes' poetry and songs from Dreamgirls and Hairspray, this project encompasses faith in dreams and revolution which may later manifest themselves as a lie. This arrangement is comprised of three parts: an illustration of the victim, a righteous retaliation, and a defeat. In a narrative fashion, the opening poses Hughes' question "What happens to a dream deferred?" (Harlem) It then continues to describe the conditions of the oppressed, expressing early and quickly that these will not "last." (Black Workers) In conjunction with Hairspray's lyrics on the civil rights movement, Hughes' poetry welcomes the "song of the revolution... [to] shake the world with a whole new dream." (Song of the Revolution, Air Raid over Harlem) The medley takes a turn for the bleak when both the rhetoric and sound weaken, and Hughes announces "Now dreams/ Are not available/ To the dreamers..." (Oppression)
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