|
Thoroughly Modern Millie - INFO |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
THE THEATER MIRROR, New England's LIVE
Theater Guide www.theatermirror.com THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE Is Frisky Old Fashioned Fun By Beverly Creasey The Reagle Players’ cheeky motto is “Broadway musicals at
prices Broadway hasn’t seen in years.” That is true—but Reagle’s special
magic is in the mix of Broadway stars and the best local performers around.
Time after time, the Reagle production of a Broadway show is better than the
Broadway tour. I certainly liked THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE when I first saw it,
but I didn’t love it until now. Reagle stages the heck out of the wacky
story of a spunky actress from Kansas who comes to New York to make a name for
herself —and finds true love as soon as she gets off the bus. (I know.
It’s a plot you’ve seen before.) Of course it takes a while for Millie to
realize he’s the “one” but that’s what musicals are for. The hoofing in MILLIE is sensational.
You can even hear the tap dancing before it starts, in the overture! (The
orchestra has never sounded so good either!) Troy Magino’s choreography is
everything you’d want in a roaring ‘20s romp: wit, sophistication, style and a
glorious sense of humor. Co-directors Magino and Frank Roberts manage to tickle
your funny bone in every scene. And if you think there are better dancers in New
York, well, to quote Mr. Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan (Doesn’t everyone?)
“If that’s your idea, you’re wrong.” By the by, one of the best numbers in the
show is “borrowed” from G&S. You’ll have a ball sleuthing out all the other
hilarious musical attributions. Broadway and soap star Erin Riegel is a
bundle of dynamite as the spunky Millie and Andy McLeavey is gangbusters as the
guy who falls for her, quite literally in the first scene and almost from a
window ledge in Act II. His competition in the romance department is deadpan
funny man Edward Watts---You’ll never, never guess who he ends up with! Don’t
even try. Janelle Anne Robinson stops the show as the blues belting
millionaires and there are so many delicious comic parts in MILLIE that I don’t
know where to start. Ellen Peterson is a stitch as the
stone-faced office manager with the gorgeous elbows (just like Katisha in THE
MIKADO). Siobhaun Maus and Mr. Watts outdo Nelson Eddie and Jeanette McDonald
in the operetta department with Ms. Maus delightfully ingenued-past-her-prime,
a la Mary Pickford in banana curls. Maryann Zschau gets to tear down the
house, one ‘blick’ at a time as a Duse of a treacherous doozy, masquerading as
a Dragon Lady: It’s not possible to describe. Zschau and her zany cohorts,
Arthur Kwan and Sage Park, have to be seen to be understood. (It’s OK, you get
subtitles, not to mention Al Jolson, overhead!) Suffice it to say: Run, dance,
hitchhike your way to Waltham but don’t miss MILLIE. I’m going back to see it
again. "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (19 - 23 July) Waltham High School, 617 Lexington Street, WALTHAM MA 1 (781) 891-5600
Thoroughly Modern Millie at Reagle Madcap 20’s musical romp based on popular Julie Andrews
film! Roll your stockings down. Rouge your knees. Flaming youth lives again and is painting
the town red! The place: New
York - that metropolis on the Hudson. The time: The 1920’s. A small-town girl is about to turn the big-time town upside
down! Thoroughly Modern Millie
is a high-spirited musical comedy based on the popular Julie Andrews’ movie. It has all of New York dancing the
Charleston. Filled with frisky
flappers, dashing leading men and a dragon-lady of a villainess that audiences
love to hate - Thoroughly Modern Millie is an evening of madcap merriment. Enter Millie Dillmount, suitcase in hand, direct from Kansas
– ready to turn the big city on its ear. New York City - a jazz filled Mecca - alive and pulsating to
a fizzy era when proper young ladies improperly bobbed their hair, become
“moderns” and searched for Mr. Right among the skyscraper canyons. Based on the popular, Oscar winning, Julie Andrews film
co-starring Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing – the musical stage
version of Thoroughly Modern Millie sat
down on Broadway for three hit years, earning Tony Awards for Best Musical,
Best Actress, Best Supporting
Actress, Best Costumes, Best Choreography – as well as other “Best Of”
categories. All in all, eleven Tony
nominations with seven awards plus six prestigious Drama Desk Awards thrown in
– just for good measure! Syncopation swings.
Tap shoes fly. Speakeasies
abound. Comic villains lurk.
Complications ensue. Happy endings
evolve. The characters are fun and irresistible: Actresses in a
theatrical hotel for young ladies, an Asian proprietress who is more than she
appears to be, two riotous Asian brothers, a young working class hero, a sweet
young thing, balmy bosses, a world famed chanteuse with worldly wisdom to
share. And center stage - Millie
Dillmount – stenographer and adventuress in the midst of the dizzying din
known as The Roaring Twenties. Love is in the air.
Girl pursues boss. Boy
pursues girl. Girl rejects
boy. Boss rejects girl. Girl pursues boy. Will Millie land her man? Which one? (And don’t bet on who winds up with whom! That’s half the fun!) All’s well that ends well in this larky,
frilly, frothy, dance-crazed musical plot with comic twists and turns - set in a
Jazz Age filled with freedom, fun and frivolity. Prepare to laugh, cheer, tap your toes and experience the sheer
fun of it all. It’s delightful musical
comedy fare done with class and dash and a keen sense of style. Number after number drives home the
tempo of the times as constantly tapping feet are never far removed from The
Charleston. Broadway was thoroughly enchanted for three straight years with
this musical romp. Thoroughly
Modern Millie is thoroughly delightful and
thoroughly satisfying entertainment!
Oh, you kid, it’s the bee’s knees.
Miss it at your peril! Thoroughly Modern Millie plays at the Robinson Theatre, 617 Lexington
Street in Waltham from July 19-23.
Seven performances only!
Tickets range from $48 - $35; Senior Discount - $1.00 off per ticket;
Child Rate $25.00 in any section for ages 5 -18. Special group rates are available. Box office is open Mon.
through Sat. Call the box office
at 781-891-5600 or buy tickets online at the Reagle web site www.reagleplayers.com Directions on web site. Air
conditioned. Plenty of free
parking. Wheelchair accessible. Frank
Roberts
Thoroughly Modern
Millie Cast List Millie
Dillmount - EdenRiegel* Jimmy
Smith - Andy McLeavey Mrs. Meers
- MaryAnn Zschau* Miss Dorothy Brown
– Siobhaun Maus Ching Ho - Arthur Kwan Bun Foo - Sage Park Miss
Flannery – Ellen Peterson Mr. Trevor Graydon
– Edward Watts* Policeman – Rich Allegretto Muzzy Van Hossmere
– Janelle Ann
Robinson* Ensemble - Lisa Bergeron M.Zach Bubolo Dani Center Kai Chao Jackie Comisar* David Dabbon De Anne Dubin Thomas Gibbons Rachel Goldberg Timothy Grady Laura Headrick Shanna Heverly Ashley Alana Kenney Suzzane Neuman Paul Reynolds* Stacy Sunday Matthew J. Schneider* and Victor Wisehart |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
