Thoroughly Modern Millie

Well here is a fact for you. The Mack likes the theatre. In fact she loves it. As she hadn’t attended a show since the summer, as a treat to herself she thought she’d book to see one of the new musicals in town, ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.

* Booking *

As I’m fortunate (or unfortunate, depends how you look at it!) to work in London, I went along to the box office at the Shaftesbury theatre to book my tickets.

...by the lady in the theatre, as right at the front was a little ‘too’ close, according to her. The stage is raised and we’d be craning our necks.

At £40 per ticket, this wasn’t cheap, but heck, it was December, and this was our treat!

Tickets do come cheaper – Grand Circle are £27.50 and £20 and Stalls and Royal Circle are £40 and £35. Group bookings and concessions are available, as are tickets for wheelchair users and ... more

Well here is a fact for you. The Mack likes the theatre. In fact she loves it. As she hadn’t attended a show since the summer, as a treat to herself she thought she’d book to see one of the new musicals in town, ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’.

* Booking *

As I’m fortunate (or unfortunate, depends how you look at it!) to work in London, I went along to the box office at the Shaftesbury theatre to book my tickets.

We were 3 rows from the front, as recommended by the lady in the theatre, as right at the front was a little ‘too’ close, according to her. The stage is raised and we’d be craning our necks.

At £40 per ticket, this wasn’t cheap, but heck, it was December, and this was our treat!

Tickets do come cheaper – Grand Circle are £27.50 and £20 and Stalls and Royal Circle are £40 and £35. Group bookings and concessions are available, as are tickets for wheelchair users and their escorts at £15 – bookable in advance.

* Venue *

Shaftesbury Theatre, 210 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2.

* Getting there *

We walked from Embankment tube station and it took about 20 minutes (bearing in mind the Mack walks fairly fast). The theatre is located at the junction of Shaftesbury Ave and High Holborn, nearest tubes are Tottenham Court Road/Holborn. There are numerous buses that also pass by. I have to admit, it’s a little out of the way.

* The theatre *

This theatre is a National Heritage Grade II Listed building built in 1911. It retains much of its ornate interior. It’s a fairly small theatre, the seats are also quite compact, shall we say! I felt pretty low down on the floor in mine but had a perfect view as I had an aisle seat. The toilets are to be found at the back of the theatre, there were 5 ladies cubicles although it was very cramped in there and the sinks are by the doors which, when there’s a large queue, causes a bit of congestion!

* Merchandise *

Is for sale in the lobby, mostly mugs and t-shirts. I bought a programme for £3 in the theatre and at half time a Haagen Dazs ice cream cost £2.50.

* The story *

Well onto the good stuff! The story was simple enough. Millie Dillmount (Amanda Holden) sets off from Kansas to New York to marry her boss and get rich. The thing is, she doesn’t yet have a job or anywhere to live. Within a few hours of arriving in the Big Apple, her purse is stolen and she loses her shoe. She accidentally bumps into Jimmy Smith (Adam Brooks) who tells her to go to the Priscilla Hotel.

Once at the hotel, she is greeted by the sinister proprietor Mrs Meers (Marti Webb). She lures young girls in, finds out they're orphans and won't be missed by family, and then kidnaps them and sells them as white slaves, with the aid of her two Chinese sidekicks, Bun Foo and Ching Ho. (“Sad to be all alone in the world” a big catchphrase with her!).

Millie finds a job and a suitably unmarried boss, Trevor Graydon (Craig Urbani) but doesn’t bank on literally stumbling upon Jimmy Smith again and falling in love with him instead!

* The show *

Firstly from a girlie’s point of view, the costumes are visibly stunning. Amanda Holden appears in nearly every colour outfit you can imagine, and the dresses are beautiful, not only on her but the surrounding dancers. It makes for a very lively and colourful presence on the stage when they strut their stuff together!

Sheila Ferguson (from the Three Degrees) plays Muzzy Van Hossmere, a hostess, who ends up being Millie’s ‘agony aunt’. To me, she stole the show, seeming so at ease on the stage and having such a great presence up there. Again, her outfits were perfect, shimmering and flashing with sequins and matching jewellery. I have to point out that her dresses were also extremely tight in the chest area and the bosoms were heaving to escape, to the point where Mack was quite worried they’d bound out and hit her in the face! And as for the male dancers, they were having trouble keeping their eyes averted and one of them had a permanent smirk on his face!

The part of Mrs Meers is usually played by Maureen Lipman and I have to say I was a little disappointed that we saw her stand in, although Marti Webb did a good job. The only criticism I have is that, in the first half particularly, I had trouble understanding Marti’s ‘Chinese’ accent which at times seemed to be trying too hard. However this didn’t really spoil my enjoyment and her interaction with her two cohorts was a joy to watch as she seemed to delight in antagonising them.

The other stand in was the main male romantic lead, Jimmy Smith. He’s usually played by Mark McGee. However, Adam Brooks did an excellent job of playing the guy smitten by the outspoken Millie.

Trevor Graydon is probably my favourite character, not least because I am a big fan of Craig Urbani, but because he has the best comic moments and got the most laughs. In the first half of the show he’s the stuffed shirt boss, uptight and spurning Millie’s advances. In the second half, he falls in love with Millie’s best friend, Dorothy (Helen Baker) and totally loses his mind! He sings his love for her when they first meet and Millie finds him drunk in a restaurant when Dorothy stands him up. He really seems to relish playing the comedian, and it shows. He got a big round of applause at the end, which he deserved!

I’d say the second half is better than the first, it’s more amusing and the storyline develops. There’s slapstick comedy, Sheila Ferguson in a blonde curly wig (think Little Bo Peep) and confessions at the end, which are very funny.

* The sets *

The Hotel Priscilla provided quite a few scenes, with an old fashioned elevator in the centre of the stage. Millie tells her visitors they have to tap dance to get the elevator to work.

Mrs Meers conducts a lot of her meetings in the laundry room, which appears dingy and dark.

Other back drops were the New York skyline, with an art deco look.

* Props *

Best prop - Mrs Meers removes one of the chopsticks from her hair and uses it as a cigarette holder.

There’s also a great tap dancing scene with the workers in Millie’s office sitting at their typewriters and using the tapping of the keys to coincide while they tap dance and whiz around the stage, still seated at their desks!

* Characters *

There’s a lot of great characters in this, one of my favourite minor characters is Miss Flannery, Millie’s boss, played by Rachel Izen. She has a very strange wig that makes her look almost like a cartoon character, and along with the bright yellow tights she wears, this looks bizarre! She’s mean and makes everyone’s life a misery, and yet the audience find this very amusing!

I know I haven’t mentioned Amanda Holden yet. This is her West End debut and she does a commendable job as Millie, and yes, she can belt out the songs. But to me this show isn’t just about her. There are a lot of big names in this show and although Sheila Ferguson only has a couple of songs in this, she really does come across as the absolute professional.

* Songs *

I haven’t seen the film so I really didn’t know any of the songs, although they were catchy and jazzy. Once out of the theatre, however, they are forgotten. ‘Mammy’ is sung in Chinese with English subtitles shown on a screen, which is very clever. Kind of Millie Karaoke.

There’s an orchestra of 16 and a cast of 30, so be prepared for some lively singing and dancing!

* Overall *

Well I know I always say I’m easy to please, and I am! This comes from being shoved in boarding school at an early age and never seeing much of the outside world! So the theatre is my little bit of escape. This show was no different, it had everything a theatre goer could want - singing, dancing, energy, beautiful costumes, well timed comedy and romance. The Mack was happy.

* Recommended *

Of course. I will definitely be seeing it again, I hope next time I get to see the main parts playing their own characters but as I went to a matinee performance, this quite often happens as the big stars don’t do two performances in one day. I was just pleased to see that Craig was in it!

4 stars, I’m being picky because I saw 2 stand ins and Mrs Meers’ accent did kinda bug me. My two friends said they couldn’t understand her either, so it wasn’t just me being thick!

* Performance times *

Monday – Saturday 7.45 pm
Thursday and Saturday matinees 3.00 pm

Box office and groups

Shaftesbury Theatre 020 7379 5399

Firstcall 0870 906 3829 www.firstcalltickets.com

Ticketmaster 0870 160 2878 www.ticketmaster.com

* For more info *

www.modernmillie.co.uk (good website including a seating plan of the theatre)

The show was recently nominated for the 2004 Laurence Olivier Awards, announced on 22nd February. The show's Amanda Holden and Maureen Lipman were both nominated for Best Actress in a Musical and the show itself was also up for Best New Musical, Best Costume Design and Best Theatre Choregrapher. Sadly, it won nothing!! Eh?!

Anita Dobson has recently taken over the role of Mrs Meers.

So, if you’re in London and fancy a fun night out, book to see this! I think you’ll like it. You'll have to hurry though - the show's closing early and finishes on Saturday 26th June.

'All guns blazing blast of a broadway show' - Sunday Express.

Show time is approximately 2 hours 45 with a 20 minute break.

Thanks for reading.  

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