|
Thoroughly
Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre)
| "This
is a throwback to an old-fashioned style of musical comedy that
is a crowd-pleasing delight..." |
Hot
on the heels of the revival of Anything Goes, London now
has another splashy, sassy period musical - but though it's based
on a 1967 movie, Thoroughly Modern Millie is in fact mostly
a brand-new show that merely looks like an old one.
It's even got an old-fashioned star-making turn at its centre in
Amanda Holden.
And she's thoroughly marvellous as Millie Dillmount, who arrives
in 1922 New York from Kansas and, after losing her purse and shoe
in short order, soon finds herself losing her heart to Mark McGee's
fresh-faced Jimmy Smith.
deliciously un-PC
 |
|
Amanda
Holden's performance appealingly combines knowingness with
innocence
|
While
Holden gives it her all in a performance that appealingly combines
knowingness with innocence, she also has an attractive singing voice
and a loose-limbed vitality as a dancer, making her more than capable
of holding her own against the mass-ranked chorus in Rob Ashford's
spectacular flapper choreography.
Millie finds herself a room at the Hotel Priscilla boarding house
for young actresses run by Maureen Lipman's Mrs Meers who, in a
deliciously un-PC comic turn, is disguised as a Chinese immigrant,
despatching orphan arrivals into a white slavery ring.
pastiche
score
The
book - by Richard Morris (based on his original screenplay) and
Dick Scanlan - gets away with it, and so does Michael Mayer's vibrantly
executed production, because it's all done very knowingly and affectionately.
With only the title song surviving from the film, Jeanine Tesori
provides the music to Scanlan's lyrics for an appealing new pastiche
score.
The result is a throwback to an old-fashioned style of musical comedy
that is a crowd-pleasing delight.
Agree
or disagree with our review? Add your comments below...
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