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Thoroughly saved by choreography
Contributed by: Russell Weisfield on 12/10/2006

Big dance numbers can often save a musical. When there is little plot or character development and few catchy tunes, the big dance numbers are in fact what have to save the show. The Arvada Center's production of Thoroughly Modern Millie is an example of being thoroughly saved by the dances and costumes.

The show is set in the 1920s and focuses on Millie Dillmount, a Kansas native who goes to New York to seek a new life. She is immediately robbed and must board at a questionable hotel that caters to actresses. Little known to her, the hotel is a front for a kidnapping operation. Millie is instead focused on marrying her boss all the while falling in love with someone else. As she navigates her feelings, she encounters other people who are also finding themselves suddenly in love.

Although the plot seems rather trite, it is the clever, well-timed choreography that makes the show a visual festival. Particularly notable are Forget About the Boy in which the cast mimics each others' movements in time, and The Speed Test in which the cast taps and acts out the movements of a typewriter with Nicole Sterling (Millie) displaying a particularly cute move for the enter key.

If the dancing is not enough, though, Nicole M. Harrison has pulled together a dazzling costume display. The actors and actresses are constantly undergoing costume changes that titillate the eyes. One might feel as if the costume designer for Sex and the City were transplanted into the 1920s and hired by the Arvada Center. Particular attention was paid to the details in the costumes including the beautiful shoes that a certain person now wants in her wedding.

The acting covers a wide swath. Beth Flynn does an excellent job delivering her lines as the amusing criminal Mrs. Meers. She is complemented by Fang Du and Doan Mackenzie who speak fluent Chinese throughout the show, but convey it perfectly to the audience. Other key actors, though, fill the part but do not separate themselves. There is actually a Dudley Do Right feel to Scott Ahearn's Mr. Graydon.

Importantly though, none of the other aspects of the show detract from its focus, the dancing. While other renditions of this Tony Award-winning show can duplicate the music, duplicate the story, and maybe with a top-line designer duplicate the costumes, it is doubtful that they would capture the charm and cleverness of the choreography. For this reason, it is worth seeing Thoroughly Modern Millie prior to the December 31 closing.


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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Russell Weisfield

Arvada , CO

Russell Weisfield has posted 45 stories and 6 comments since joining on 9/14/2005. Russell Weisfield 's average story rating is 4.72.
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