Does anyone know anything about the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie"? My high school has selected it as the spring musical. Specifically, any information about the pit orchestra would be appreciated, though general info is good too!

I was listening to a couple songs from it when I raced back here, did you know that there's a number called "The Nuttycracker Suite"?! I thought I was going to be appalled by the transformation of Tchaikovsky's great work into something, well, less serious, but, sadly, I LOVED IT!!! It's a great jazzy piece from the little bit that I heard. Sorry I couldn't be of any real assistance .

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I guess I do have something :)! I think that the abrupt changes in tempo and style might throw some people off, but these things are typical of every musical I know.

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Thoroughly Modern Millie is a musical with a book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan and additional songs by Scanlan (lyrics) and Jeanine Tesori (music).

In the early 2000s, the 1967 film of the same name was adapted for the stage at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, California. It maintains the basic story line of the original but, in an effort to be politically correct, tones down many of the stereotypical traits associated with the Asian characters in the film. The plot revolves around Millie Dillmount, who escapes to New York City from Salina, Kansas determined to marry her wealthy boss - whomever he may be. Shedding her country girl image for the modern look of a "flapper," she takes a room at the Priscilla Hotel for Women and gets a job as a stenographer at the Sincere Trust Insurance Company. In short time, she finds herself involved with Jimmy Smith, an apparently ne'er-do-well paper clip salesman, Miss Dorothy Brown, a genteel aspiring actress who never seems to have spare change, Trevor Graydon, her no-nonsense boss, and Muzzy van Hossmere, a madcap Manhattan heiress with a zest for the high life.

Critical reaction was favorable enough to warrant a move to Broadway. Prior to opening, Sutton Foster was plucked from the chorus to assume the title role, a move that propelled her to stardom.

After thirty-two previews, the production, directed by Michael Mayer and choreographed by Rob Ashford, opened on April 18, 2002 at the Marquis Theatre, where it ran for 903 performances. The opening night cast included Sutton Foster, Marc Kudisch, Angela Christian, Gavin Creel, Harriet Harris, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Ken Leung, and Francis Jue.

In 2003, the original creative team reunited to stage the show in London's West End at the Shaftesbury Theatre, a theatre notorious for consistently housing flops. It began previews on October 11 and opened on October 21. Starring in the title role was well-known TV personality Amanda Holden, with Maureen Lipman as Mrs. Meers and Sheila Ferguson as Muzzy Van Hossmere. Mrs. Meers subsequently was played by Anita Dobson, and when Holden was forced to take time off due to illness, her understudy Donna Steele took over the role to great acclaim. Despite positive reviews and booking periods extended to January 2005, Thoroughly Modern Millie failed to catch the UK public's attention and closed prematurely on June 26, 2004.

A UK tour beginning in March 2005 fared much better and successfully toured many of the country's major theatres until November, when it closed as planned in Nottingham. The tour starred Steele as Millie, Lesley Joseph as Mrs. Meers, and Grace Kennedy as Muzzy Van Hossmere.


[edit] Musical numbers
Songs are by Tesori and Scanlan, unless otherwise noted.

Act One

Not for the Life of Me
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Lyrics by Sammy Cahn, Music by James Van Heusen)
Not for the Life of Me (Reprise)
How the Other Half Lives
Not for the Life of Me (Reprise)
The Speed Test (to the tune of the patter song My Eyes Are Fully Open from Gilbert and Sullivan's Ruddigore)
They Don't Know
The Nuttycracker Suite (derived from music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
What Do I Need with Love?
Only in New York
Jimmy (Lyrics by Jay Thompson and Scanlan, Music By Thompson and Tesori)
Act Two

Forget About the Boy
I'm Falling in Love with Someone (Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young, Music by Victor Herbert)
I Turned the Corner
Muqin (Lyrics by Sam M. Lewis, Joe Young, Walter Donaldson, and Scanlan, Music by Lewis, Young, and Donaldson)
Long as I'm Here with You
Gimme Gimme
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Reprise)
An original Broadway cast recording is available on the RCA Victor label.