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JOHN FLEMINGThoroughly Modern Millie, a musical about a woman in the 1920s that first was a movie in the '60s, has been remade into a show that connects with 21st century audiences.
Thoroughly Modern Millie intends to be an old-fashioned musical, the kind of show with nothing more on its mind than girl meets boy, lots of song and dance, and flashy costumes from the Roaring '20s. But lightweight musical theater is not as easy as it looks.
"The dirty little secret is that doing a traditional musical is really tough," says Mike Isaacson, an associate producer of the show. "To get the sensibility across to the audience so they're engaged with it is a difficult thing to do. Because as soon as something feels old, like a museum piece, they drop out. Even though Millie is in this world of the '20s, it has to feel like our sense of humor now."
The musical, which plays this week at Ruth Eckerd Hall, succeeded in its goal from a commercial standpoint, winning six Tony Awards in 2002 and settling into a long Broadway run. It is based on a campy 1967 movie that starred Julie Andrews as a small-town girl from Kansas who moves to New York, where she raises her skirts, bobs her hair and sets out to land a job as a stenographer and marry her boss. Sutton Foster won the Tony for best actress in a musical as Millie, who is played by Darcie Roberts on the tour.
"Julie Andrews has this calm, smooth, classic element to her," Roberts says. "The Millie of the stage production is a little more quirky and bold and spunky. She sort of jumps into these experiences headfirst and isn't really sure how she's going to get through it, but she ends up making her way. I think that's what's charming about the show."
Only two numbers, including the title song by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn, remain from the movie, which also featured Carol Channing, Beatrice Lillie and Mary Tyler Moore. The reworked score includes nine new songs by composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist Dick Scanlan, as well as several '20s standards and a Gilbert and Sullivan-style patter number called The Speed Test. Michael Mayer directed.
Roberts, previously seen as the sultry Lola in Copacabana and as Tommy Tune's love interest in the ill-fated Busker Alley (which was derailed in Tampa en route to Broadway when Tune broke his foot), finds the stage Millie more believable than the flapper in the movie.
"You have to play the reality and the truth of the situation even if you're doing a cartoonish take on New York in the 1920s," she says. "Millie comes to New York with no job, no money; she doesn't know anyone. All she has is this dream to get out of farm life and be modern. I think everyone can relate to that journey whether it's a relationship they know they have to get out of or they're moving to a new city or they're starting a new job."
Choreographer Rob Ashford won a Tony for his renditions of the Charleston and other jazz-age dance crazes.
"He found this really fun way to bring the '20s out in the choreography, this free and crazy way they had with their bodies, loose in their legs and hips," Robert says. "You'll go from doing one step that is very loose and languid, and then go into a very technical step, like a quick turn into a high kick. To be able to do that, you have to let your body go free for the loose stuff and then pull up all of a sudden and rely on your technique to do the next part."
Millie, which marks its second anniversary on Broadway in April, was designed to be a family show. "We see a lot of 5- and 6-year-olds out there, and they get it," Roberts says. "They lock into the story, they don't lose interest, and they come away remembering the songs. It's such a valuable commodity these days to be able to bring your children to live theater."
Child-friendliness aside, Millie is a long show, with a running time of two hours and 20 minutes, not including intermission. Roberts is onstage for all but eight minutes. "If we have a not very responsive audience, or if we're having a bad show, it's frustrating because I can't leave," she says. "I'm sort of stuck out there to keep making up for my mistakes or trying to get them to understand what I'm doing."
Ruth Eckerd has made Millie the centerpiece of its Broadway season. The hall was one of about 40 performing arts centers, promoters and theaters around the country that banded together several years ago as the Independent Presenters Network to back shows. It invested $25,000 in the Broadway production, part of the total of about $1-million from network members, which turned out to be great move when the musical won its Tonys.
"In order to invest in Millie, all of these organizations had to involve their boards in what it means to be a producer," Isaacson says. "It was a good experience. They all had a stake in this great success."
Ruth Eckerd and other network members will probably next be involved in backing Bombay Dreams, the musical about India's movie business that opens on Broadway in the spring, Isaacson says.
Roberts has noticed a difference in being in a show that has investors from the theaters where it plays around the country.
"In every opening night party, we're meeting a producer of the show," she says. "It's nice to be able to show them that their money was well spent. Hopefully they're pleased when they see our show."
Preview
Thoroughly Modern Millie opens Tuesday and runs through Jan. 25 at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. 8 p.m. Tue.-Fri., 2 and 8 p.m. Sat., 2 and 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25. Tickets $37-$65. 727 791-7400, www.rutheckerdhall.com