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Phil Hopkins
Group Travel Editor & Theatre Correspondent
@philhopkinsuk
5:51 PM 19th April 2017
arts

Millie - Silly, Fizzy, Fun!

 
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie
Thoroughly Modern Millie may have started life as a vehicle for Julie Andrews, but Strictly's Joanne Clifton has proved that she is more than a good pair of pins, or simply a lady content to follow in the footsteps of Mary Poppins!

It was such a refreshing change to watch this 'new' musical, new in the sense that it came well after the 1967 film, as late as 2002 in fact, however, in every other way it felt like a chip off the old block.

Throughout there were overtures of Guys and Dolls and Shirley MacLaine's Charlie Girl, with an equal array of crazy characters including a cross dressing baddie and two oriental mad men, all very familiar to some of those cameos in Cole Porter's cruise musical, Anything Goes.

And with what must be one of the best female leads around - remember the screenplay was written as a showcase for Andrews in the wake of her success as Mary Poppins and Maria in the Sound of Music - it needed someone capable of filling her shoes and Clifton did just that, seamlessly.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable romp but for me, as is so often the case, some of the highlights were in the cameo roles.

Lucas Rush as Mrs Meers was absolutely hilarious as the cross-dressing 'oriental' baddie, prone to speaking in pigeon English until faced with making a 'white slave trade' deal to sell one of his lady victims. Interestingly, in the past, the part has been played by Marti Webb, Maureen Lipman and Lesley Joseph but I think it was a comedy masterstroke giving it to Rush who has strong theatre credentials, great timing and knows how to wring every laugh out of a dubious accent and a glance.

Sometimes gender reversal is done to create comedy value or even shake the audience up - Paul O'Grady as Mrs Hannigan in Annie, Elexi Walker as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet; it has happened many times. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. This time it did.

Graham MacDuff as Trevor Graydon, Joanne Clifton as Millie and Company. Photo by Darren Bell
Graham MacDuff as Trevor Graydon, Joanne Clifton as Millie and Company. Photo by Darren Bell
Top marks too to Graham MacDuff as Trevor Graydon, the straight-laced boss consumed by the need for high stenography speeds in his secretaries. He was excellent but did overplay the drunkenness scene, which lasted too long and pandered to audience demands for slapstick. The other on stage players corpsed and he momentarily ruined his brilliant characterisation and show continuity.

Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of Millie Dillmount, the small-town Kansas girl who moves to New York in search of a rich man to marry. She stays at a women only hotel - such places did exist in the Big Apple during 1920's Prohibition - but finds herself at the centre of a white slave trade operation run by the evil Mrs Meers and her two oriental henchmen.

In between there's the romance, Millie wants to hook up with her boss, Trevor Graydon, who falls for Millie's mate, Dorothy Brown, the leggie, somewhat ditzy Katherine Glover, who in turn is sister to the bloke who fancies Millie, square jawed, millionaire in disguise, Jimmy Smith, aka Sam Barrett.

As musicals go this is a marathon with a curtain down nearer 10.20pm rather than the customary 9.50pm but, all said, it is fizzy, fun and a light-hearted romantic romp that holds you to the end. If you like traditional musicals - some words, a song, a dance and a silly, clean story line with lots of daft gags and unbelievable characters - then you will love Thoroughly Modern Millie even though it does only have one memorable tune. The clue's in the title.

Leeds Grand
Until Saturday (22nd April, 2017)