Thoroughly Modern Millie - 2016

Music by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan
Lyrics by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan

September 29 – October 8, 2016
Production Team
Director: David Sinclair
Musical Director: Heather Elliott
Choreographer: Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti
About

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a high-spirited musical romp that has all of New York dancing the Charleston. It’s the zany new 1920’s musical that has taken Broadway by storm!

The winner of six Tony Awards including Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie was the 2002 season's most awarded new show on Broadway! Based on the 1967 Academy Award-winning film, Thoroughly Modern Millie takes you back to the height of the Jazz Age in New York City, when "moderns" including a flapper named Millie Dillmount were bobbing their hair, raising their hemlines, entering the workforce, and rewriting the rules of love. This high-spirited musical romp is a delightful valentine to the long-standing spirit of New York City and the people who seek to discover themselves there.

The stage version of Thoroughly Modern Millie includes a full score of new songs and bright dance numbers.

Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men and a dragon-lady of a villainess audiences will love to hate, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of madcap merriment. And with the role of Millie Dillmount, musical theatre has found a new heroine for the ages in Thoroughly Modern Millie.

 

Ticket Information

 

 

Cast
Principals
Millie Dillmount – Alana Shepherdson
Jimmy Smith – Mitchell Smith
Miss Dorothy Brown – Emily Wood
Mrs Meers – Pam O'Grady
Trevor Graydon III – Buddy Dawson
Muzzy van Hossmere – Sam Francis
Ching Ho – Harry Nguyen
Bun Foo – Paulo Nacianceno
Miss Peg Flannery – Nadine Wood
Ensemble – Emma Bennett, Thomas Brodie Phillips, Em Carter, Jamie Conlon, Tahlia Crickmar, Alex Dunbar, Emma Haddy, Chloe Hall, Scott Kelly, Steve Lewis, Maddie McArthur, Niki Martin, Maya Miller, Demi Nicholson, Josiah Pay, Ruby Pinkerton, Aled Proeve, Lucy Trewin, Andy Trimmings, Zak Vasiliou, Sandy Wandel, Emma Wilczek, Hayley Wolfendale
Awards
Award Nominations
TASA MusiCAL Award
TASA Female Performer Award - Alanna Shepherdson
TASA Best Technical Award - Sets & Lights David Sinclair, Alexander Ramsay
Reviews
http://www.stagewhispers.com.au/reviews/thoroughly-modern...
http://www.theatreguide.com.au/current_site/reviews/revie...
http://www.glamadelaide.com.au/main/theatre-review-thorou...
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/entertainment/arts/thorough...
http://theclothesline.com.au/thoroughly-modern-millie-gss...

TASA Online

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - G&S Society of SA

Reviewed by David Smith

September 2016-

Millie (Alana Shepherdson), Trevor Graydon II (Buddy Dawson), Miss Flannery (Nadine Wood) and the employees of Sincere Trust Photography: David Haddy

Millie (Alana Shepherdson), Trevor Graydon II (Buddy Dawson), Miss Flannery (Nadine Wood) and the employees of Sincere Trust
Photography: David Haddy

Director David Sinclair and the cast and crew managed opening night well, considering the week's storms had forced the cancellation of the final tech rehearsal and the 24 hour postponement of the opening . With minor exceptions the show flowed smoothly. Heather Elliott's musical direction was secure and Shenayde Wilkinson-Sarti's choreography was crisp and well suited to the era.
Millie is a strange musical, blending original songs with a number lifted, tongue-in-cheek, from classic musicals or operetta. Falling in Love with Someone and the take-off of G&S's ItReally Doesn't Matter are good examples. In the main this production made a good fist of the musical blend and brought a certain credibility to the frivolous story line.
The set was digitally impressive, providing clarity, colour and depth behind the action. Its concept prevented the wash-out so often seen in back-cloth projections. It also suitably complemented the 1920s costumes.
The cast was led by the charming Alana Shepherdson as Millie. She sang and moved well and was entirely convincing as the naive new arrival in NYC. Mitchell Smith was a plausible Jimmy, the undercover rich boy and Millie's love interest, while Emily Wood provided good emotional and vocal balance as Miss Dorothy.
Pam O'Grady was funny yet menacing as Mrs Meers, the white slaver, and Buddy Dawson gave a sustained and entertaining interpretation of the socially awkward Trevor Graydon, proprietor of the company, Sincere Trust.
In all, this was an agreeable and toe-tapping tribute to the Roaring Twenties and the would-be emergence of Millie, the 'modern' woman.
Programme
thoroughly-modern-millie-2016-programme-final