Millie’s ‘modern’ is to realize that she ain’t going nowhere without a rich guy to give her the life she wants, so she turns up the gold digging dial. In a scene that could have come out of a dating guide written by Donald Trump, she voluptuously displays herself in front of her boss while asking him his opinions on ‘taking someone by brute force’.
Yes, awkward. But not all the retro in this production is clunky. Joanne Clifton, star of Strictly Come Dancing, brings some turbo-powered zest to the role of Millie. The surprise and delight is that she can sing as well as she can dance. And what a workout! With ten songs and a tsunami of dance routines to get through, by the end she seemed to be going up through yet more gears to finish with some frantic tap work. Bravo!
The story of Millie is a strange concoction. A simple tale of a young woman coming to the big city and falling in love is given a far darker twist with its subplot of white slavery. Millie, having been mugged on the streets of New York, takes a room at the rundown Hotel Priscilla for single women, run by the dastardly Mrs Mears (Lucas Rush). Here she meets others in a similar predicament, including the vivacious Miss Dorothy Brown played by the excellent all singing and dancing Katherine Glover.
Director Racky Plews has opted for a pantomime villain approach to Mrs Mears’ sinister plottings. All it lacked was the audience participation. Rush, while comfortably well over-the-top in role, could have gone the whole hog and encouraged some booing from an audience sinking deeper into its seats during a very long first half.
Sam Barrett plays the fresh-faced Jimmy Smith, smitten by Millie. His crystal clear voice was afforded little room for expression during the bland What Do I Need With Love but became more animated in his later duet with Millie, I Turned the Corner. Graham MacDuff almost stole the night as Mr Trevor Graydon, the company boss of the Sincere Trust. MacDuff produced a wonderful piece of knockabout comedy as he portrayed a very drunk Graydon, stood up by his new love interest, banging into and rearranging the set. He got a great cheer from the audience at his curtain call for his efforts. Jenny Fitzpatrick had the voice and charisma to convince as society dame Muzzy Van Hossmere, almost taking the roof off with Only In New York. The rest of the ensemble and the very capable band, with musical direction from Rob Wicks, did their utmost to inject pace into a too slow a narrative.
What’s not to like about designing a Twenties set and costumes? Morgan Large’s pastiche deco set echoed detail from the Chrysler Building. Under an arc of lights reminiscent of elevator lights, other scenes were slid out and back with good effect. Head of Wardrobe Heather Davis can pat herself on the back for a scintillating display of sparkling flapper dresses.
As well as some predictably soppy love songs, Millie offers a couple of classics: The Speed Test is sure to entertain, as is the theme tune, Thoroughly Modern Millie.
Led by the irrepressible Clifton, this show will continue to entertain, and many will go home afterwards having had a taste of glamour and fun. ★★★☆☆ Simon Bishop 21st June 2017
