Hayley Tamaddon, of Coronation Street and Emmerdale fame, puts some fizz into her depiction of Millie Dillmount, a young woman with starry-eyed but determined dreams of finding and seducing a rich husband as a passport out of penury.

Set in New York during prohibition in the 1920s, young Millie tips up, along with many like her, at the sleazy Priscilla Hotel for single women, run by the sinister Mrs Meers. Headlines emblazoned across the front pages of newspapers warn of white slave gangs working in the city. With her rasping mid-west accent, naïve but determined Millie starts life in the Big Apple inauspiciously but gradually learns that love means more than money. In a classic pauper meets prince narrative, as she works towards getting her slice of cake, fortune steps in to surprise her.

In this, the sixth staged production of Millie since the 1967 film starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore, Tamaddon heads up a lively and talented cast who look like they are enjoying themselves onstage. The leads are all in great voice – Lisa Bridge as Millies’s friend Miss Dorothy Brown has the Theatre Royal vibrating as much as her tonsils with her power and range, while Richard Meek as company boss Mr Trevor Graydon smashes the challenging ‘Speed Test’ song and Michael Colbourne, as Millie’s love interest Jimmy Smith, delivers palpable feeling in the sensitive ‘I Turned The Corner’. Nicola Blackman’s velvety tones suited the flamboyant but kindly Muzzy Van Hossmere.

Lucas Rush reprises his 2017 role as the dastardly Mrs Meers. An end-of-the pier vaudeville villain, Rush’s cackling falsetto laugh is a treat. While the character’s use of a cod Chinese accent and ‘yellowface’ will raise a few eyebrows, the roles of Bun Foo and Ching Ho also remain worryingly stereotypical. But, hey, this is the 1920s, right? Rush, to give him his credit, has perfect comedic timing. His every appearance added yet more sparks to an already zesty night.

There is much to enjoy in director and choreographer Racky Plew’s production: a typing pool rattles with syncopated rhythm; a dazzling ensemble in silver and black deco-inspired flapper dresses tap and Charleston their way while a sharp band delivers delicious sax and clarinet lines from the pit. The catchy songs keep coming: Not For the Life of Me, The Speed Test, Forget About The Boy, Gimme Gimme and the irresistibly foot-tapping Thoroughly Modern Millie theme all have A-grade Broadway pizzazz. Morgan Large’s set, now on the road for the second time in two years, looks like it could do with a bit of a refresh, but the main deco backdrop and clever device of the Chrysler building themed elevator lights is still effective.

2018’s Millie is bound to entertain and bring audiences to their feet as it did at tonight’s performance. You cannot fault this cast for its total commitment to song and dance.    ★★★★☆     Simon Bishop  30^th May 2018

Production photos by Alastair Muir