Theater Reviews

Dec 3, 2005 - A pulverized "Thoroughly Modern Millie" plays Reno's Pioneer Center

By Jack Neal

You can't beat a souffle with a paddle and expect it to be light and airy. Yet that's what director Joey McKneely and sound designer Duncan Robert Edwards have done to, for and with the touring company of "Thoroughly Modern Millie," which opened last night (12/2/05) at Reno's Pioneer Center.

What has to be a light-hearted romp through material so thin it's anorexic, turned out to be one long battle with high decibel singing and delivery of lines compounded by an excruciating sound design that leaves listeners feeling like they're having eardrum acupuncture via sledgehammer and nails.

A show, even with a gallant and talented cast, isn't much fun when most of what's being said and sung can't be understood. Part of "Millie's" fun is having the Chinese (or whatever) Ching Ho and Bun Foo are speaking translated on supertitles a la opera. In this show the whole script and lyrics could be supertitled. They are that difficult to comprehend.

Playing the title role, Alex Ellis gives all she can and she has lots to give. But she can't overcome sound levels that take the metallic qualities of her fullbodied Ethel Merman voice and turn them into something tantamount to a jackhammer under a hotel window at 3 a.m. How sad for Miss Ellis because she has what it takes to be a big-voiced, fun and engaging stage presence.

Debbie Reynolds slugged a spotlight operator who couldn't find his mark (her) night after night. I don't recommend a violent act that could get a young star in trouble, but this "Thoroughly Modern Millie" would improve in a flash, if someone just pulled the plug on the show's Mr. Hyde who goes berserk in his laboratory of electronic gadgets.

Then, hire a new director.

Joey McNeely's choreography isn't Susan Stroman stuff, but it's very passable and energized dance movement, just as it's okay to be. But his direction (he does both) turns a spoof of a show into a heavy-handed cartoon that's a real shrieker.

Jason Fleck, who plays Millie's office boss Mr. Trevor Graydon, suffers most from Mr. McKneely's loud-mouthed burlesque approach. He could be loads of fun but his bombastic delivery allows for no comedic nuance at all. He becomes tiresome very quickly. Elizabeth T. Murff, a formidable Mrs. Meers, Arthur Kwan, a delightful Ching Ho, and Fang Du, an equally delightful Bun Foo, pull off their Charlie Chan white-slave episodes with a politically-incorrect saving grace that are the show's funniest islands of entertainment.

Kriste Belt (a great name for a musical comedy singer) could be magnetic playing stage star Muzzy Van Hossmere, if Dick Scanlan's book and lyrics gave some hint as to what she is doing in this show. As it is, she's a delightful diversion doing yeoman duty with weak material. Making the best of her beautiful wickedness is Jenn Furman, a Miss Flannery of near Miss Hannigan ("Annie") proportions.

Courtney Elise Brown is a classy Miss Dorothy Brown with a classy set of soprano pipes that does full justice to the show's steals from Victor Herbert's "Naughty Marietta," "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life" and "I'm Falling in Love with Someone." With some underscoring from what sounds like a Verdi opera and a patter song that sounds a lot like Gilbert and Sullivan, the two Victor Herbert tunes aren't the only steals finding their way into the show's score created by Jeanine Tesori. Public domain has such a wealth of possibilities.

Among a solid cast of troupers, the absolute real find in this production is David Allen Fox as Jimmy Smith, Millie's ultimate beau. Mr. Fox sings well, acts well, is at home on the stage and has matinee idol goodlooks. One can't ask for more. The show's nicest moment is when Millie (Miss Ellis) and Jimmy (Mr. Fox) profess their love for one another through song and dance on the window ledge. It was a magical moment of musical-comedy finesse reminiscent of what Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire used to bring to the screen.

The show's excellent, small eight-piece pit orchestra sounds larger thanks to Dave Pierce's shrewdly synthesized arrangements. The costumes, designed by Martin Pakledinaz, are attractive and first-rate. James Fouchard's scenic designs aren't something to write home about but they do allow the show room to breathe and move. If light kills, Hugh Hallinan's lighting designs are clever covers for what's missing from the show's look.

Regardless of my reservations, on opening night in Reno this rendition of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" received a slow to react but nonetheless partial standing ovation.

This Troika Entertainment production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" plays the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts, 100 S. Virginia Street, Reno, Nevada, Friday, December 2 (2005) at 8 p.m., Saturday (12/3/05) at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday (12/4/05) at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. For information call 775-686-6600.