Thoroughly Modern Millie (musical)


Thoroughly Modern Millie is a musical with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan. It is based on the 1967 film of the same name, which itself was based on the British musical Chrysanthemum, which opened in London in 1956. Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of a small-town girl, Millie Dillmount, who comes to New York City to marry for money instead of love – a thoroughly modern aim in 1922, when women were just entering the workforce. Millie soon begins to take delight in the flapper lifestyle, but problems arise when she checks into a hotel owned by the leader of a white slavery ring in China. The style of the musical is comic pastiche. Like the film on which it is based, it interpolates new tunes with some previously written songs.
After previews at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California, in October 2000, the show opened on Broadway on April 18, 2002. The production subsequently won six 2002 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Due to the success of the original Broadway production, there was both a United States tour and a West End production launched in 2003, followed by a United Kingdom tour in 2005. The musical has since become a popular choice for high school productions, but has garnered controversy over its racial stereotyping of its Asian characters, and has been described as "a piece walks the line of being entertaining and highly offensive".

Synopsis

Act I
In 1922, Millie Dillmount arrives in New York City from Salina, Kansas. Determined to be successful, she tears up her return ticket. She bobs her hair for a modern "flapper" look. She is soon mugged, losing her hat, scarf, purse and a shoe. Seeking help and in a panic, she trips bypasser Jimmy Smith, a handsome, carefree young man who goes through life on whims and wits. He lectures Millie on why she should return home: she is just another girl with false hopes who does not belong in the big city. Almost taking his advice, she changes her mind and yells after him, "Who needs a hat? Who needs a purse? And who needs YOU, mister whoever-you-are?!" and soon takes a room at the Hotel Priscilla for Single Women.
A week later, Millie is confronted by the mysterious and sinister Mrs. Meers, the hotel proprietress. A former actress, Meers now works for a white slavery ring in Hong Kong, kidnapping orphaned girls and shipping them to the Orient, which she has just done to Millie's hall mate, Ethel Peas. Mrs. Meers declares that Millie "has two minutes to pack, or find her things on the street!" Millie then meets the wealthy Miss Dorothy, who wants to learn how the poorer half lives, and asks to rent a hotel room. Millie suggests Miss Dorothy can room with her until another room become available, but only if Miss Dorothy pays the rent. Mrs. Meers says Millie can get a rent extension and Miss Dorothy can take room next to Millie's that just became available. When Millie asks what happened to Ethel, the former occupant, Mrs. Meers claims she got an acting job in the Orient.
In the hotel laundry room, two Chinese immigrants, Ching Ho and Bun Foo, are working for Mrs. Meers to earn enough money to bring their mother from Hong Kong over to the US.
After researching some of the richest and most eligible bachelors in the world, Millie comes to Sincere Trust, looking for a job and also to set her sights on the company's boss, Trevor Graydon III. Her lightning speed stenography easily lands her the job. Meanwhile, Ching Ho attempts to capture Miss Dorothy for Mrs. Meers with a drugged apple but when he sees her, he falls in love with her instantly and wants to save her from Mrs. Meers. Before Dorothy eats the drugged apple, Millie arrives with the good news that she has found a job and a boss to marry. As the girls rush off to their rooms, Mrs. Meers thinks about how stupid the girls are never to realize her evil plan to ship them to Southeast Asia. To celebrate their success the girls go to a speakeasy, where they meet Jimmy, but the club is raided by the police. While waiting for his release in the jail cell, Jimmy realizes that he loves Millie.
Jimmy asks Millie to a party hosted by famous singer Muzzy van Hossmere, and she accepts. Before the party, Muzzy sings of her love for New York. At the party, Millie spills wine on Dorothy Parker's dress, which Millie tries to get out with soy sauce, following Mrs. Meers' example. After the party, Millie explains to Jimmy how she is going to marry Trevor. She also tells him off for being a "skirt chaser" and "womanizer." As they argue, Jimmy suddenly grabs Millie and kisses her, then runs away. Millie realizes that she loves Jimmy. Millie returns to the hotel and overhears a conversation between Miss Dorothy and Jimmy, "I really want to tell her, she's my best friend" followed by "You know we can't". Millie sees Jimmy sneaking out of Miss Dorothy's room after what appears to be a late-night tryst; confused and horrified, Millie decides she never wants anything to do with Jimmy ever again.
Act II
At Sincere Trust, Millie tells the other stenographers that she is "completely over" Jimmy, then realizes she is still in love; the girls try to convince her to let him go. Millie places more conviction into marrying Graydon, but when Dorothy comes to visit Millie at work, Mr. Graydon is immediately smitten with her instead. The two set up a date together. While Millie is brooding over her lost chances, Jimmy breaks in through the window and asks her to dinner. She initially tells him off but then agrees.
Back at the Hotel Priscilla, Mrs. Meers along with Ching Ho and Bun Foo get ready to drug Miss Dorothy, when Ching Ho refuses because he loves her. Mrs. Meers stops his ranting by reminding them of why they work for her, to raise money to see their mother again. She convinces them to go along with the plan.
Jimmy finally declares his feelings for Millie while washing dishes to pay their tab at Cafe Society while Muzzy is performing her hit. Millie is confused by her feelings for Jimmy and her desire not to be poor and initially rejects him. She runs to Muzzy, who tells her she's a fool for throwing away true love for the sake of money. She tells the story of how she met her late husband, a supposedly poor but goodhearted man who gave her a green glass necklace. Regardless of his income status, she loved him anyway, and she later realized that her green glass necklace was actually genuine emerald. Millie reconsiders her feelings and finally realizes that she would rather have a green-glass love with Jimmy.
Just as she returns to Jimmy to confess her feelings, they encounter Graydon, who was stood up by Miss Dorothy for their date, and is drunkenly singing, annoying Dexter and his wife, Daphne, who are also on a date. Graydon tells Millie and Jimmy that Mrs. Meers told him Miss Dorothy had checked out of the hotel. When Millie recalls that several other tenants had also suddenly "checked out", and that all of them were orphans, Millie, Jimmy, and Graydon realize what Mrs. Meers is doing. They persuade Muzzy to pose as a new orphan in town to trick Mrs. Meers, who takes the bait, is exposed as the mastermind of the slavery ring, and is then taken to the police station. Meanwhile, Ching Ho had already rescued Miss Dorothy and won her heart.
Jimmy proposes to Millie, and, poor as he is, she accepts, "because if it's marriage I've got in mind, love has everything to do with it." Jimmy turns out to be Herbert J. van Hossmere III, Muzzy's stepson, and one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. And Miss Dorothy turns out to be his sister, an heiress named Dorothy Carnegie Mellon Vanderbilt van Hossmere, and she ends up not with the dismayed Trevor Graydon, but with Ching Ho. Muzzy reveals that to help Jimmy and Dorothy avoid getting caught by fortune-hunters, she sent them out into the world so that they could find spouses who weren't in it for the money. Both Jimmy and Dorothy had disguised their family name to avoid being found out as society heirs. In a final pairing, Bun Foo joins Graydon's company as a new stenographer after telling Graydon that he can type fifty words a minute. At the very end of the musical, Bun Foo and Ching Ho are once again reunited with their mother.

Principal roles

CharactersRole TypeDescription
Millie DillmountLeadA young, "modern" woman from Salina, Kansas. Originally, her goal was to marry for wealth, rather than love.
Jimmy SmithLeadAn attractive young paperclip salesman. He does not show pride in his wealth.
Miss Dorothy BrownLeadA new actress from California, Millie's best friend.
Mrs. MeersSupportEvil owner of the Hotel Priscilla who is a former actress. Leader of a white slavery ring in the Orient.
Trevor Graydon IIISupportSincere Trust Insurance Co. Head.
Muzzy van HossmereSupportSinger and bon vivant, stepmother of Jimmy and Dorothy. She was the second wife of her late husband.
Ching HoSupportChinese henchman, falls in love with Miss Dorothy.
Bun FooSupportChinese henchman, focused more on the task at hand.
Miss Peg FlannerySupportCurmudgeonly head stenographer at Sincere Trust.

Producers

is credited as one of the producers; the Tony win for Best Musical in 2002 earned Goldberg the "T" in her EGOT status.

Cast lists

Notable replacements

Broadway (2002–04)