Review of "Thoroughly Modern Millie"

Thoroughly Modern Millie, the first offering of the Goodspeed Opera House’s season, is thoroughly and enormously entertaining.  Possessed of plucky performances and energetic and creative choreographer, the musical is a lively and cheerful production.

 

“So beat the drums 'cause here comes thoroughly modern Millie now!” the cast of Goodspeed Musicals’ Thoroughly Modern Millie now playing at The Goodspeed through July 2.
Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewski

The story, based on the 1967 movie of the same name that starred Mary Tyler Moore, Julie Andrews, and Carol Channing, focuses on Mille Dillmount, a young woman just off the bus from Salina, Kansas looking to make her mark on New York City in 1922.  A self-described modern woman, she is seeking to marry a would-be boss for his money as opposed to love.  Within hours of hitting the streets of The Big Apple she, literally, bumps into Jimmy Smith, a brash, opinionated young man who tells her to go back home.   Their encounter goes as well as oil and vinegar.  Undeterred, she checks into the Hotel Priscilla, an all-women’s hotel populated by aspiring actresses, befriending one of them, Dorothy, a newcomer from California.   Unbeknownst to the residences the proprietress, Mrs. Meers, is running a white slavery ring, along with her two Chinese henchmen, from the establishment.  This sets into motion a series of frothy and frivolous hijinks that culminates in love and justice.

 

The cast of Goodspeed Musicals’ Thoroughly Modern Millie now playing at The Goodspeed through July 2.
Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewski

Book writers Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan have crafted fully developed characters, along with a wholesomely silly plot, as they send up the jazz age with madcap delight.  Their non-stereotypical portrayals of the Asian lackeys give the show a less distasteful sheen.

The score by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan is always highly satisfying and tuneful, encompassing a number of different musical and rhythmic styles.  There are upbeat and jaunty tunes such as the title number and “Forget About the Boy;” the comedic gem, “They Don’t Know;” and yearning ballads that include “What Do I Need With Love” and “Jimmy.”

 

“Muquin” Christopher Shin (Bun Foo), Loretta Ables Sayre (Mrs. Meers) and James Seol (Ching Ho) in Goodspeed Musicals’ Thoroughly Modern Millie now playing at The Goodspeed through July 2.
Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewski

The cast, which exudes a youthful exuberance, is spirited, spunky and talented.  They are led by Taylor Quick as Millie Dillmount, a take charge woman who succumbs to the call of love over money.  She is high-spirited and fearless with a marvelous voice and dancing prowess to match.  Dan DeLuca has a winning bon vivant swagger as the loveable, carefree womanizer Jimmy Smith who inevitably falls for the dame.  Samantha Sturm is refined and daft as the wide-eyed, innocent Miss Dorothy Brown.  In the role of Mrs. Meers, Loretta Ables Sayre just about steals the show.  The theater veteran knows how to deliver a line or extend a scene to great comic effect.  Lucia Spina’s Miss Peg Flannery has a layered edge to her portrayal of the stern, matron of the steno pool with an underlying heart-of-gold. Edward Watts is suitably pompous and strait-laced as Millie’s boss Trevor Graydon III.  Ramona Keller has a knowing worldliness and down-to-earth manner as cabaret singer Muzzy van Hossmere.  James Seol (Ching Ho) and Christopher Shin (Bun Foo) provide extra comic relief as Mrs. Meers’ less than menacing gang.  

 

The cast of Goodspeed Musicals’  take “The Speed Test” in Thoroughly Modern Millie now playing at The Goodspeed through July 2.
Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewski

Director/Choreographer Denis Jones is in his element with this bubbly, buoyant show.  As he demonstrated helming Goodspeed’s Holiday Inn two years ago (as well as its Broadway transfer this season for which he is nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography) musicals heavy on tap dancing and playfulness are his specialty.  As choreographer, he incorporates many types of dance routines into the production, but he excels when a full-throttled tap number is called for in the musical.  He shows his inventiveness during the scene at the office of the Sincere Trust Insurance Company when the office secretaries, seated at their manual typewriters, tap up a storm while at the same time paying homage to Busby Berkley movie musicals and Gilbert and Sullivan patter songs.

Director Jones keeps the pacing tight and the humor in high gear.  In his dual role, he seamlessly melds scenes from one mode to another. He also imbues each actor and actress with their own unique traits and mannerisms.

 

“My spirits are truly unruly, For I'm falling in love with someone” Edward Watts (Trevor Grayden) with Samantha Sturm (Miss Dorothy) and Taylor Quick (Millie) in Goodspeed Musicals’ Thoroughly Modern Millie now playing at The Goodspeed through July 2.
Photo Credit © Photo by Diane Sobolewski

Gregory Gale’s costumes are stylish as well as lavish, evoking the flapper age of the 1920’s.  

Thoroughly Modern Millie, a sweet, summertime concoction to sit back and enjoy at the Goodspeed Opera House through July 2^nd.