Thoroughly Modern Millie
If there is any theater venue staging more exciting, more satisfying musical experiences than the Drury Lane Oakbrook in the Chicagoland area, I would love to meet its acquaintance. As it stands, having attended a fine performance of Pump Boys and Dinettes early last summer, as well as an utterly fantastic interpretation of Cabaret a couple of months back, I can knowledgably state that other companies would be wise to take notice and emulate as much as possible.
The Drury Lane Oakbrook’s latest creation, an absolutely showstopping mounting of the 2002 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, is yet another triumphant notch on the belt of Drury Lane Productions, as well as its Executive Producer, Kyle DeSantis.
Thoroughly Modern Millie begins as the quintessential, perhaps even stereotypical, story of a small town girl from Kansas making her way to the big city of New York with little more than pluck and a pretty face. The year is 1922, a decision in setting by original screenwriter (the musical began life in 1967 as a film) Richard Morris that lends itself to a most excellent Roaring 20s/Jazz Age score and Charleston energy aplenty.
Be that as it may, the flawless direction of William Osetek takes Millie’s inherent gifts for vaudeville fabulousness to a whole new level. The attention to detail in scenic design (Kevin Depinet), costuming (Tatjana Radisic), choreography (Tammy Mader) and the unbelievable nuances of the actors’ performances cannot be overstated. The production is every bit as much a technical triumph as it is a great piece of entertainment. The finely tuned outcome of all these individually wonderful ingredients is a testament to Osetek’s talent as a leader.
Millie Dillmount (Holly Ann Butler), the endearing heroine of our story lands in the Big Apple, and after an initial bit of bad luck, meets cute with Jimmy Smith (Mark Fisher) who advises her to hop the next bus back to her naive, small town life. The apple pie good looks of the romantic leads, as well as their gifted song and dance accomplishments, take what could be an otherwise treacly plot and turn it into a quietly simmering story of liberal passion. Butler and Fisher have an incredible chemistry, PG enough on the surface to make the production family friendly, but with just the right hint of an R-rated undercurrent to knowingly excite the adults in the crowd. It is difficult not to root for Millie and Jimmy as they struggle with the issues of freedom, youthful choices and the impracticality of love. From the moment, Butler belts out the opening number, "Not For the Life of Me," the audience is hooked.
Mille fancies herself a prototype of the fashionable "modern," a woman who cuts her hair short to show her spirit, the property of no man who can make her own destiny in a patriarchal world. To that end, she quickly finds herself lodging in a women’s hotel, run by the one-dimensionally evil Mrs. Meers. Though this character gives me pause in its very delicate tightrope walk between politically incorrect humor and racism, it is to the credit of the enormously talented Paula Scrofano, a Drury Lane regular, that Mrs. Meers absolutely kills every moment she’s on stage. Everything that Scrofano was serving up, in the way of expert physical comedy, or vocal gymnastics in numbers like "They Don’t Know," the audience was eating with a spoon.
Millie’s small tastes of New York’s good life are financed with the job she lands as a typist and Gal Friday to Trevor Graydon (the wonderful Randall Dodge), at Sincere Insurance Company. The series of scenes that take place in Millie’s burgeoning career environment are nothing short of phenomenal. The inventive and energetic choreography, the musicality of "The Speed Test" and pinnacle Broadway ditty "Forget About the Boy" had the crowd on the edge of their seats, actually catcalling and wolf-whistling as the songs came to a thunderous end. Dodge, and Sharon Sachs as dowdy bruiser Miss Flannery, are included in a remarkably solid cast of supporting characters that includes Melody Betts as Muzzy Van Hossemere. Betts is in a mere handful of scenes in the two hour plus performance, yet her commanding presence is memorable long after the curtain falls. Special attention deserves to be paid to her brilliant rendition of "Long As I’m Here with You," a tune which ultimately represents Millie’s feelings toward Jimmy.
Deciding that marrying for money rather than love is not for this "modern" after all, Millie predictably falls into Jimmy’s arms. But, of course, deus ex machina! As it turns out, Jimmy is rich beyond belief, the stepson of rich widow Muzzy. Miss Dorothy Brown (Dara Cameron, boasting an opera quality soprano), Millie’s best friend? Jimmy’s sister! Of course! And yet despite the impossibly happy resolution to Thoroughly Modern Millie, in a time of particularly jaded depression surrounding the current economic downturn, it all works. Somehow it just all works, so satisfyingly in fact that you can’t help but notice the smiles on the faces of other theater patrons as they exit the aisles. After all, isn’t it OK to set reality aside and have fun once in awhile? Don’t we all secretly wish we were tap dancing along with Millie and her fabulous flapper friends?
As previously stated, the show is perfectly fine viewing for audiences of all ages. Buy your tickets while you can because the word is already out. There wasn’t a seat to be found inside the large theater, a tight crowd even for a premiere evening. I am known to be crabby about driving out to the suburbs to catch a show, and I must own that some of my fellow urban dwellers are known to echo my sentiments. But it is a trip well worth making. I look forward to seeing what the Drury Lane Oakbrook has in store for its next production.
Thoroughly Modern Millie runs through December 20, 2009 at Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace.
Performance schedule:: Wednesday at 1:30pm; Thursday at 1:30pm and 8pm; Friday at 8:30pm; Saturday at 5pm and 8:30pm; Sunday at 2pm and 6pm. Info phone: 630-530-0111. For more information visit the www.drurylaneoakbrook.com
