Will Millie be able to snag her boss? Will Miss Dorothy escape the clutches of Mrs. Meers has blackmailed into serving as her henchmen, and the wealthy, glamorous widow slash cabaret singer Muzzy van Hossmere (Julia Marie Rodriguez), soon to become Millie’s friend and ally. Meers’ next victim?Ĭompleting the cast of principal players are the authentically Chinese duo of Ching Ho and Bun Foo (Anton Garsola and Hisato Masuyama), whom Mrs. Since Miss Dorothy (and don’t you dare forget the “Miss”) is an orphan, who better to become Mrs. Meers (Alison England), aka Daisy Crumpler, whose real business is a more sinister one-selling lodgers without next of kin into white slavery.

Millie’s new best friend in the big city is aspiring actress Miss Dorothy Brown (Deanna Bakker), who like Millie has found cheap lodging at the Hotel Priscilla, a boarding house for single girls run by “Oriental” dragon lady Mrs. Boy-next-door type Jimmy Smith (Jason Webb) might seem an equal candidate for Millie’s heart if he weren’t poor as a church mouse-and as irritating as all get out-but Millie is nothing if not determined, and besides, if a girl is going to fall in love, she might as well fall for a rich man, right? Movie buffs will recall Millie Dilmount’s 1967 screen debut with Julie Andrews in the title role, while musical theater aficionados will tell you that Millie made her Broadway debut thirty-five years later, with new songs by Jeanine Tesori and Dick Scanlan and a lead performance that won Sutton Foster the Tony and scored Richard Morris and Scanlan a Best Book Tony as well.Īllyson Spiegelman now steps into superstars Andrews’ and Foster’s shoes as a small-town girl freshly arrived in 1920s New York with dreams of big city success not unlike 42nd Street’s Peggy Sawyer, though in Millie’s case, it’s not show biz she means to conquer but the heart of her rich and handsome new boss Trevor Graydon (Kelby Thwaits). For a Broadway hit that won six Tony awards (including Best Musical of 2002), Thoroughly Modern Millie has made relatively few Southland appearances in the intervening twelve years, just one of many reasons to celebrate the Thoroughly Modern (circa 1922) Miss’s arrival at Glendale Centre Theatre under the thoroughly marvelous co-direction of Danny Michaels and Orlando Alexander.

The Dreams Forgotten by Millie Michaels