PTPA to Present THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Millie Dillmount travels to New York City from Kansas in the 1920’s to find a rich husband and winds up finding true love instead. That’s the story of Thoroughly Modern Millie, an award-winning Broadway musical opening in Hazleton August 8.

Thoroughly Modern Millie, an old-fashioned song and dance musical in the grand Broadway tradition, opened in 2002 and won six Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Actress in a Musical for Sutton Foster. The play, with music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlon, and story by Scanlon and Richard Morris, was based on a 1967 film of the same name.

Hazleton’s Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts will present the show August 8, 9, 15, and 16 at 7 p.m. and August 10 and 17 at 3 p.m. at the J. J. Ferrara Center for the Performing Arts on West Broad Street in downtown Hazleton. PTPA’s all-you-can-eat dinner buffet will be available both Fridays and Saturdays of the show’s run.

Long-time PTPA actress and singer Katy Childs stars in the title role of Millie, who gets a job as a stenographer at a the Sincere Trust Insurance Company, takes on the look of a flapper, and plots to marry her boss. Childs has had lead roles in many PTPA musicals including The Spitfire Grill, Gypsy, Bye,Bye, Birdie, White Christmas and Damn Yankees.

While Millie is working on getting her boss’s attention, she finds herself attracted to Jimmy Smith, a poor but fun-loving salesman who peddles his wares at the trust company. Smith is played by actor Michael Hurst, who won a 2007 NEPTA award for his performance as Hero in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum with PTPA last summer.

In the story, Millie takes a room at the Hotel Priscilla for Women, an establishment where many aspiring actresses and dancers live. The hotel is run by an odd woman named Mrs. Meers, who, as we learn later, is involved in supplying white slaves to brokers in China. Joanne Rhoads, a veteran actress with both PTPA and the Nuremberg Community Players, takes on the roll of Mrs. Meers.

PTPA actor and director Robbie Rozelle plays Trevor Graydon, Millie’s boss and the object of her marriage plot. Graydon is a pompous lout, but he’s very wealthy and fits into Millie’s plans. The problem is that Graydon is falling for Miss Dorothy, one of Millie’s friends at the hotel.

Featured as Miss Dorothy Brown is PTPA newcomer Katie Finkelstein, a senior at Wyoming Valley West High School. Dorothy, who says she has no family, is a well-to-do wannabe actress who lives at the Priscilla Hotel. Millie’s boss Mr. Graydon takes a liking to her, but Mrs. Meers has plans to make sure Dorothy winds up with the Chinese slave traders.

PTPA leading lady Yamilet Montas plays Muzzy von Hossmere, a madcap Manhattan cabaret singer and heiress with a zest for life and a glamorous penthouse apartment. Somehow Jimmy is acquainted with the high-society Muzzy, and he introduces her into the story.

Colyn Rodriguez and Mike Marone play Ching Ho and Bun Foo, two Chinese henchmen working with Mrs. Meers in the slave trade to raise money to bring their aging mother to America. Both of them speak and sing in Chinese.

Thoroughly Modern Millie features several familiar melodies including the title song and “Forget About the Boy.” Also, pieces of the music of Victor Herbert and a parody of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite are worked into the story. The show has eight dance production numbers including the well-known “Speed Test.”

PTPA Artistic Director Michael Marone directs Thoroughly Modern Millie in collaboration with Musical Director Joan Moyer. Professional dance instructor Jeanie Burger choreographed the show along with PTPA’s Jessica Benjamin. A ten-piece jazz ensemble will play the entire score

Tickets for the show only are $15 for adults, $10 for students 12 and over, and $7 for children. Dinner and show tickets are $28 for adults, $22 for students, and $15 for children. Group rates are available. Tickets can be reserved at 454-5451 or at the Hazleton Philharmonic Box Office, 455-2188. For more information, visit www.ptpashows.org online.