Thoroughly Modern Millie. Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton
By Jerald Smith
Beginning life as the 1967 movie with Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Channing, as well as a host of other stars, this show was cobbled together using some original material, a bit of Tchaikovsky and Al Jolson, a skit on the patter song from Ruddigore and even two songs from Naughty Marietta.
Despite it not having a distinctive identity of its own, and a somewhat far-fetched storyline involving white-slavery, this production works brilliantly.
This is because MusCom has assembled one of the most talented casts, and some of the best voices, I have seen or heard on the amateur stage.
Tasheka Brown, as Millie Dilmount - the girl who arrives in New York with the intention of getting a job and marrying the boss - shows great charisma and confidence.
As her would-be target Chris Wolverson acts insurance boss Trevor Graydon with assurance and authority, but when he breaks into O Sweet Mystery of Life it is a moment of theatrical genius. Gail Hutchinson’s crooked hotel-keeper Mrs Meers is suitably inscrutable.
Jimmy Smith, well-portrayed by Jonathan Dudley, and Miss Dorothy Brown, played sympathetically by Samantha Strutt, are the brother and sister pretending to be ordinary and hiding their great wealth, which ensures that it all ends happily.
There’s a very handsome and hard-working chorus, and Denise Robinson’s production and choreography are both slick and spectacular with some eye-catching routines, especially the Speed Test and Forget about the Boy numbers.
l Runs until Saturday.
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