Saturday, February 25, 2017

review - THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE - Hale Centre Theatre

Victoria Holden Jumpe, Caelan Creaser, Heidi-Liz Johnson, and Allan DeWitt
Photo by Nick Woodward-Shaw
highlights from local critics reviews - (click link at bottom of each review to read complete review)

Click here for more information on this production that runs through April 1st.

"...Hale Centre Theatre's production...is a comically delicious treat that features a gifted cast, superb direction, and infectious choreography along with an abundance of rich, sumptuous costumes.
... set in 1922...follows small-town Kansas girl Millie Dillmount and her exploits in New York City. ...as she goes about her plan to marry a man for his wealth and not for love, she discovers that it may not be as easy as she thought, especially since the man she wants, who just happens to be her boss, seems to pay her no attention. She also keeps running into a poor but charming young man named Jimmy, and she just might be falling for him. Adding to Millie's problems is the possibility that Mrs. Meers, the woman who owns the hotel where she rents a room, might be running a white slavery ring with a plan to kidnap and sell some of Millie's friends. Dick Scanlan and Richard Morris' book, ..is full of plot, with plenty of fun twists and turns, and the score, which includes songs from the film plus several toe-tapping new ones with music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by Scanlan, features several showstoppers. Hale's talented cast, under the skilled direction of Cambrian James, features excellent performances from Caelan Creaser as Millie, Allan DeWitt as Jimmy, and Kathi Osborne as Mrs. Meers. Creaser ...has a beautiful, rich voice that delivers on her many songs and an infectious lightness to her expert dancing. ...As Jimmy, DeWitt's strong, sweet voice evokes a lovely romantic nature ..his dancing is excellent, as is his well-defined portrayal....Kathi Osborne is a crowd-pleasing hoot as the evil Mrs. Meers. She has the audience firmly in her hand as this villainess you love to hate, with superb comic timing. Heidi-Liz Johnson as Millie's new friend Miss Dorothy and Stephen Serna as Millie's boss Trevor Graydon both played these roles last year in another production and they have grown in their abilities to elicit the charm, humor and humanity of the characters. ...
James' excellent direction and choreography, along with his superb hair and makeup designs, provide period-perfect additions full of elegant and humorous touches. ...Dani Everts' costumes are simply sumptuous and work well to highlight the main actors....With a talented cast under Cambrian James' always skilled direction, Hale's joyous and comically rich production of Thoroughly Modern Millie is a sure fire hit." -Gil Benbrook, Talkin' Broadway (click here to read the complete review)

No comments:

Post a Comment

In order to avoid spam, comments will be moderated. Anonymous comments no longer will be allowed. If your comment is from an actual person it will be approved and posted in a timely manner.