Lancaster, Pennsylvania
June 7 – July 1, 2007
The following is from the Fulton Theatre's website:
Millie Dillmount arrives in Manhattan with no intention of ever returning to her small town roots. Armed with little more than pluck, moxie and a boatload of ambition, this thoroughly modern gal is dedicated to experiencing everything the roaring 20s have to offer. You'll laugh and cry right along with Millie as she navigates the ups and downs of work, romance and mystery to the accompaniment of marvelous song and dance. Based on the popular movie, the stage version of Thoroughly Modern Millie features fifteen rollicking songs that truly capture all the bubbly thrills of the Jazz Age. Don’t miss this feel-good musical that's just as sweet, funny and entirely up-to-date as Millie herself.
'Modern' love
'Thoroughly Modern Millie' closes Fulton's theater season
By MARTY CRISP, Staff writer
Sunday News
Jun 03, 2007
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - "Thoroughly Modern Millie" takes center stage at Fulton Opera House this week, closing the theater's 2006-07 season in grand musical style.
Set in the roaring 1920s, "Millie" dates to a 1956 British musical called "Chrysanthemum," which inspired a 1967 movie titled "Thoroughly Modern Millie," starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore. It was adapted for the Broadway stage in 2002. On the Great White Way, it garnered Tony Awards for its breakout star, Sutton Foster, and for Best Musical.
In the Fulton production of this jazzy show about a Kansas girl who travels to New York City in search of a rich husband, Tari Kelly plays the role of Millie. Kelly is from Madison, Wis., herself, and this is her third time at the Fulton. She was in "Rags" in 2001 and performed for the Fulton's 150th Jubilee in 2002. Now living in Queens, N.Y., Kelly was in the original Broadway casts of "The Boy from Oz" and the Hal Prince revival of "Show Boat."
She played Millie for Fulton regular Marc Robin (who directs this production) at the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre last year and was nominated for Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for her performance.
Her character is a naïve country girl who transforms herself into a bob-haired flapper and gets a job as a stenographer at the Sincere Trust Insurance Company. She aims to marry her rich boss. But, in the way of office romances, she falls for a poor paper clip salesman instead.
"It's a role that fits me well," Kelly said. "Millie is like I am as a person: She's got drive and ambition — although I'm not after a rich husband."
Kelly has been married for 13 years to musical director, Patrick Q. Kelly, a guy she met when as a young actress of 21 she joined the ensemble of her first professional production, "Mame."
After playing "Millie" in the round in Chicago, Kelly said she's discovering new things about the role as she rehearses behind the Fulton's proscenium arch.
"It's the tap dancing that's the most fun," she said, "especially doing it in a real theater like the Fulton."
Living life out of a suitcase, Kelly spends most of her time on the road, either touring or in regional productions. She just finished playing Sally Bowles in "Cabaret" in Pittsburgh and next heads to Saint Louis, where she's booked to play Polly in "Crazy for You." She had to interrupt "Millie" rehearsals briefly to answer a callback in New York for a role in the national tour of "The Drowsy Chaperone," currently on Broadway.
Her life is pretty much all singing, all dancing, all the time, and Kelly loves it. "Millie" has 15 big musical numbers, including "How the Other Half Lives" and "Forget About the Boy." Kelly said the show is all about "girl power."
"It's about laughing, having a good time and ultimately finding true love."
"Thoroughly Modern Millie" opens Thursday at Fulton Opera House, 12 N. Prince St., and runs through July 1.
“There's that music Mama, remember that song? Listen Mama, we'll hear it our whole life long.”
Rags, a Broadway musical of great passion and humor, is the story of Rebecca, a Russian immigrant, who arrives at Ellis Island with her young son in search of her husband and a new life. They discover that this remarkable place called America is full of challenge and wonderment. Written by the creators of Fiddler on the Roof, Annie and Godspell, this story of courage and spirit creates a magical and moving journey with a soaring score and haunting lyrics. A show for those who love great American musicals!
Book by Joseph Stein
Music by Charles Strouse
Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
