Indy Theatre Habit

On Saturday night I drove over to the Marian College campus, near 38th Street, to see the Indianapolis Civic Theatre’s production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”  Here is my review in a nutshell:  Melissa Schott is completely delightful as Millie Dillmount!  There are several other visual and aural treats in this show as well.

The historian in me would like to document those artistic treats in more detail.  But first, for the librarian in me, the citation:  The music is by Jeanine Tesori.  Lyrics by Dick Scanlan.  Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan.  Civic’s charming production was directed by Robert J. Sorbera, with music direction by Philip Christiansen.  Judy Perkoff Smith is the stage manager.

This show is based on the 1967 movie, which starred Julie Andrews.  The Broadway version won the Tony award for best muscial (and several other awards) in 2002. 

The story takes place in 1922.  The spunky Millie has just arrived in New York City from Kansas.  She is a “modern woman,” determined to control her own destiny by finding a job working for a wealthy, successful man and then marrying him.  Not for Millie the life of her mother and grandmother, being a “goody-good girl,” marrying for love and remaining poor and tired all her life. 

The feminist in me laughed out loud when I heard of Millie’s plan, but the romantic in me said, “Hush, now, Hope.  Her intentions are good.”

After many job interviews, Millie finally does find a suitable boss in Mr. Trevor Graydon (Tobin Strader.)   However, she also literally runs into another man, Jimmy Smith (Nathanael Welch.)  He is not a good prospect in terms of wealth or success, and even if he were, he is not interested in marriage, so of course the two of them fall in love over time.

The chemistry between Schott and Strader, however, is lovely, and at first I thought that Millie and Mr. Graydon would indeed end up together.  Their first song together, “The Speed Test,” is very funny.  Strader’s tongue, especially, is lightning fast and admirable.

But I also believed the love between Millie and Jimmy.   The sincere way that Schott and Welch sing about Jimmy and Millie, with quivers in their voices, made me envy the yearning they have for each other.   I sympathized with Millie’s struggle: should she continue to be “modern” or should she follow her heart?

There is a subplot about white slavery in Asia.  I know:  I said, “What?!” too, but it works.  In fact, I think that one of the many reasons why I like this musical so much is that its bright and lively romantic fluff is very gently and humorously tempered with sinister, accurate substance.  People really did go to jail for drinking alchohol during Prohibition.  People really did, and do, get mugged sometimes.  Vulnerable young people really did, and do, get kidnapped sometimes.  But far from being a downer, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” is uplifting and full of beauty and laughs.

The “Chinese” manager of the Hotel Priscilla, where Millie is staying, keeps an ear out for orphan girls.  When she hears of one, she and her accomplices, Ching Ho (Taylor Slavens) and Bun Foo (Bryan D. Padgett), bundle the girl off in a laundry cart to be sold.   The three co-conspirators are hilarious. 

Reine Goldberg plays the ballsy hotel/gang manager, Mrs. Meers, whose accent changes from Chinese to New Yorkese depending on her audience.   Goldberg’s comic timing is excellent and her song belting is what I imagine to be pure Broadway. 

Slavens and Padgett are obviously not Chinese, even though their characters are, but their comedy comes mostly from something other than making fun of stereotypes, thank goodness.  They are funny because they are unexpected.  They speak and sing in Mandarin (!), with English subtitles projected on a bamboo-bordered screen overhead.  More surprises are layered into that surprise in the form of the songs that they sing, which is very satisfying.  Also, we feel sympathy for them:  their characters are in the slave trade because they are desperate to bring their mother over to live with them, not because they are motivated by greed.

The orchestra, directed by Philip Christiansen and managed by Al French, enhances this subplot with delicious, suspense-building music.  It made me giggle and shudder, both.

Several other supporting characters are a hoot as well.  Miss Flannery (Susie Harloff) is the assertive manager of the stenographers working for Mr. Graydon.   She may be a jilted spinster, but she still knows how to work her elbows to grab a guy’s attention when the opportunity arises.  I especially loved her strong energy when she and the other stenographers support Millie emotionally in the “Forget About the Boy” number.

Miss Flannery’s cone-shaped hairstyle is funny, too.  (Hair/Wig design by Debbie Williams.)

Miss Dorothy Brown (Theresa Koleszar) is Millie’s insouciant friend at the Hotel Priscilla, providing a more refined, but still laughter-filled, quality as counterpoint to Millie’s feisty personality.  Their “How the Other Half Lives” duet is charming.

In fact, all of Millie’s girlfriends from the hotel are fun to watch and listen to, whether accompanying Millie to a speakeasy or to jail.  In addition to Miss Dorothy Brown, the girlfriends include Ruth (Katie G.R. Soffietti), Gloria (Marla McClure), Rita (Lauren Curtis Kossack), Alice (LeToryia N. Gowdy), Cora (Debbie Williams), and Lucille (Jennifer Shoup.)  And poor Ethel Peas (Alexandria Van Paris), who falls victim to Mrs. Meers.

One night, Jimmy takes Millie to a fancy club to hear the famous Muzzy Von Hossmere sing.  Von Hossmere is played by Karen Morrow, who gives her character warmth and wisdom as well as glamour.  Her singing is lovely and torchy.  Muzzy’s Boys - Brent E. Marty, Andrew J. Matthews, Jeff Van Paris, and Dave Rosencrans - dance behind her with panache.

Dorothy Parker (Jennifer Shoup) and George (Brent E. Marty) and Ira Gershwin (Andrew J. Matthews) are friends of Muzzy’s, too.  It is fun to see these “real-life” famous people, and to see how George Gershwin might have gotten the idea for his 1924 hit song, “Rhapsody in Blue.”

I asked for a balcony seat this time.  There are many good seats at Civic, but I think I am going to ask for the balcony every time from now on, at least for a while.  From the balcony, I can not see the actors’ faces well enough to recognize them on the street, nor can I see the finer details of the costumes.  However, I love being able to see the whole, grand visual of the magnificent Civic sets and, in this show especially, the overall effect of the witty choreography. The sound seems as good from the balcony as from the lower seats, too.

Ryan Koharchik designed and lit the sets for “Millie.”  They are full of satisfying features.  Just to name a few:  I loved the squares of pink, yellow, and turquoise light on the floor echoing the window squares of the Manhattan skyscrapers when Millie first arrives in the big city.  I also loved the rectangular lozenges hanging down in the office scene. They were bordered in “metal” in a way that reminded me of the metal-enclosed circles of an old-fashioned manual typewriter’s keys.  I also loved the row of five, sherbert-colored doors in the Hotel Priscilla…

Oh!  And the turntable!  It is used in such clever ways, both by the set designer and by the director in his blocking of the actors’ movements.

The choreography in this show is as saucy and exciting as…well, as flappers.  Choreographer Michael Worcel came up with moves that are somehow both associated with the 1920s and unexpected, which makes for a very fresh feeling overall.  I loved the mix of dance methods, too - e.g. the individuals tap-dancing in the elevator and on the window ledge vs. the steamy dancing by the whole Ensemble at the speakeasy.  (Scott Martin, Andrew J. Mathews, Ilissa Rassner, Amy Mullen, and Tiffany Stochel round out the Ensemble.) 

I don’t know who was in charge of finding the nine (nine!) manual typewriters and the nine candlestick telephones for the tap-dancing stenographers to use - perhaps the properties mistress, Kathy Watson? - but they add something special both visually and aurally to what are already special office scenes. I love the stenogs’ silver tap shoes, too, and the way the stenographers dance with their chair-desks.

I gave up jotting down notes about the costumes that I loved because there were so many of them.  Designer Jean Engstrom created and/or gathered a wealth of 1920s fringed, beaded, feathered, and sequined gowns and hats that are just the cat’s meow.

Michael J. Lasley designed the sound.  I laughed out loud at the bird twitters during “I’m Falling in Love with Someone.”  And come to think of it, maybe all those typewriters were a recorded sound, too.  Hmm.  Anyway, they sounded great.

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” is a real treat of a show.   Tickets are less expensive on Thursday nights, but worth every penny on the weekends, too.  Be sure to give yourself plenty of time to park and find your seat.  There is plenty of free parking on the well-lit Marian College campus, but you may have to hike a teeny bit from your car to the theatre’s front door. 

This show continues at the Indianapolis Civic Theatre through March 22.  Please call 317-923-4597 to make a reservation.

Hope Baugh - www.IndyTheatreHabit.com