"Thoroughly Modern Millie" Review

Catchy choruses, flashy costumes, and a fantastic set were all things going for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the musical I saw in Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, April 12. In addition, the orchestra was wonderful and played the score with precision and enthusiasm. However, there were many aspects of this Ram’s Head production that made me stop and find this performance less than perfect.

The opening act, in which the main character Millie Dillmount sings her first song, was sung with a blasé attitude, as if the character herself did not believe what she was saying. The girl’s voice was amazing, and she hit each note perfectly; however, her motions on the stage were minimal and constrained. I also saw this characteristic in the ensemble as they were doing their main dance pieces; for example, when they join Millie in this first scene, or perhaps the typewriter scene in which they all tap dance. But indeed, I’d like to stop here and mention that these performers have probably never tap danced in their lives and I’m guessing just learned so for this production, but the least they could do is put an excited and engaging look on their face. Now, for a performance that is supposed to have a kind of silly, predictable and noncomplex plotline, which this musical was definitely made to have, it is understandable for the lack of storyline to be so. However, the focus of the musical should then have been to entertain and trade on the catchy songs and flashy dances. So while the songs were very catchy and sung well, the dances seemed to be boring and without character. There was one girl who stood out to me (she was wearing a curly blonde wig and had a teal green dress in the first scene) who seemed to be playing her part wonderfully, getting into the part and really exaggerating her movements on stage, as such a performer in a musical should do. However, this was not the case with the whole cast.

Another aspect that bothered me during the performance at first was the part of the two hotel helpers who were from Hong Kong. I thought their accent and them singing songs in another language was very distracting and it seemed as though the whole play was a joke. My thoughts were shared by the audience as people shifted uncomfortably and didn’t know whether they should laugh. I was very confused and felt it drew away from the focus of the musical. However, I discovered throughout the play that this aspect was supposed to be a little quirky. With Ram’s Head being a student led and directed production, I saw the humor of the college student as it played through these roles. I found that the musical, in fact, traded on this, and that it was a necessary aspect to the purpose of the play. It gave comic relief and after a while, the audience felt more comfortable laughing at these parts. The culmination of this occurred even after the play was over as the never-before-seen mother of the two boys came out after the bows, and everyone laughed at their reunion. This instilled in me one of the focuses of the musical that was to not be entirely serious and completely professional, but to welcome a little college humor as it was put on and directed by Stanford students themselves.