Thoroughly Modern Millie Review

When Millie with her two cheap suitcases arrive in prohibitionist-era New York, she brings her irrepressible modern attitude with her. Thoroughly Modern Millie is based on a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon and is playing at the Pennsylvania Playhouse through April 1. Director Will Erwin brings a wonderful, fast-paced musical to life with some of the Lehigh Valley’s best dancers and singers. Gorgeous and immensely talented Casey Elizabeth Gill is completely charming and perfectly cast in the title role of Millie. The naïve girl from Kansas meets handsome but apparently penniless Jimmy Smith played by Doug Ace, but she keeps her hat set for a wealthy husband. Gill has great comedic timing augmented by a repertoire of smiles, eye raises and saucy poses. Millie’s best friend, roommate and apparent romantic rival is Miss Dorothy Brown played by strikingly beautiful Kimberly Tassinaro who claims to be a wealthy orphan who wants to experience life as a poor person. The part showcases her singing range and acting skills. Millie and Dorothy lead a talented troupe of singing dancers through Gwen Swanson’s beautifully choreographed numbers. Their duet, “How the Other Half Lives” is charming to see and to hear. The dramatic lighting by Ryan William Kloss is tremendous, especially when it suddenly captures and visually isolates Dorothy Brown and Millie’s boss and hoped for husband, Trevor Graydon (played by Brian Vigorito) as the two first meet and are smitten. The biggest laugh getter is Ted Williams as Mrs. Meers, the cross-dressing Chinese owner of the cheap hotel for single women where he and his henchmen do a thriving side business kidnapping any orphan woman who checks in, selling them into white slavery. When Mrs. Meers sets out to Shanghai Dorothy, his bungling henchmen, Ching Ho (Peter Sikalias) and Bun Foo (Nathan Chipman), sympathize with the pretty girl. Sikalias and Chipman are standouts in that their dialog is mostly in Chinese, helped along by sub-titles for the benefit of the packed house. Sikalias, who has a seemingly hopeless crush on the patrician Dorothy, charms the audience with his broken English and good-hearted nature. The minimalist but effective set design by Colleen Shea provides plenty of room for the energetic “Moderns” led by talented dance captain and eye-catching Morgan Reilly. Muzzy Van Hossmere, a wealthy socialite is, played with laugh-getting charm by Kirsten Rani Almeida. Redheaded Miss Flannery, played by Mary-Catherine Bracali, keeps the comedy moving as the crusty floor supervisor who tries to keep effervescent Millie grounded in work a day reality. Though unseen in this production, the orchestra, led by Lucile DeMasi Kincaid, is wonderful. Director Erwin also gets credit as the Costume Designer and with the assistance of the multi-talented Tassinaro, dresses the cast in striking costumes evoking the Roaring Twenties’ style.