ADVERTORIAL Audiences all a flapper for new play

13 Jun 2013

By The Record

A scene from WAAPA’s ‘high spirited musical romp’, Thoroughly Modern Millie, playing at the Regal Theatre, Subiaco from Saturday, June 15. PHOTO: WAAPA

The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) is proud to present Thoroughly Modern Millie, directed by Crispin Taylor. Thoroughly Modern Millie runs Saturday, 15 to Saturday, 22 June at the Regal Theatre, Subiaco.

Thoroughly Modern Millie is a Tony Award-winning, high-spirited musical romp. It’s the zany new 1920s musical that took Broadway by storm!

Based on the popular 1968 musical film, starring Julie Andrews, it tells the story of a naïve young woman who finds herself in the midst of a series of madcap adventures when she sets her sights on marrying her wealthy boss. She begins to take delight in the flapper lifestyle in this hilarious celebration of the roaring twenties when the parties rocked and the Charleston was the dance craze.

Though a relative newcomer to the stage, introduced in 2000, Thoroughly Modern Millie has all the components of an old-fashioned musical – romantic ballads, show-stopping musical numbers, parallel love stories, mistaken identity, tapping and conflict created by hilarious buffoons. With tap numbers like Forget About the Boy and romantic ballads like I

Turned the Corner, Thoroughly Modern Millie has quickly become an American musical theatre favourite.

On Broadway, the show was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, and won six, including Best Musical. It will be performed by the entire second and third year cohorts of WAAPA’s renowned Music Theatre course, and directed by Crispin Taylor (Anything Goes, Crazy For You, Into The Woods).

Its exhilarating musical score will be performed by a large orchestra of WAAPA musicians directed by David King; the spectacular dance numbers choreographed by Jenny Lynnd, lighting design courtesy of multi-award winner, Trudy Dalgleish (White Devil, Eureka, Hairspray, The Boy From Oz, How To Succeed In Business …) and set design is by Steve Nolan (Anything Goes, Crazy For You, How To Succeed …).

Amid the lavish design and flashy spectacle, there’s a home-spun message to Thoroughly Modern Millie. Though fads and fashions come and go, the things that really matter never change.