Broadway By the Bay, the largest theatre organization on the Peninsula continues its 43rd season with the zany 2002 Tony Award-winning Broadway hit musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie. Based on the 1967 hilarious musical comedy film featuring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore, Thoroughly Modern Millie, an upbeat, energetic family show filled with frisky flappers, dashing men, and snappy, spirited dance numbers, plays July 10 (press night July 12) through July 27 at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center, 600 N. Delaware, San Mateo. For tickets ($17-$45) the public may call (650) 579-5565, or visit www.broadwaybythebay.org.
THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, the story of small-town girl Millie Dillmount who arrives in the Big Apple in 1922 to marry for money instead of love, debuted on the silver screen in 1967 featuring three starlets who remain icons today:
Julie Andrews,
Mary Tyler Moore, and
Carol Channing. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and five Golden Globe Awards, and in the early 2000's was adapted for the stage with updated music and lyrics by Jeanine Tesori and
Dick Scanlan. Featuring fifteen songs, including two from the 1967 film, four standards from the 1920's, and nine new songs, the show opened at San Diego's La Jolla Playhouse before moving to New York, where it premiered on Broadway April 15, 2002. Called "a thoroughly delightful experience" by USA Today, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE was hugely successful, running for 903 performances and winning six Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Actress.
Dennis Lickteig makes his Broadway By the Bay debut as director of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, with musical direction by Attilio Tribuzi and choreography by Robyn Tribuzi.
Melissa WolfKlain returns to Broadway By the Bay as the determined Millie. In 2004 she won a Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Award for Best Female Principal Performance in Broadway By the Bay's Singin' in the Rain. Regional credits include production at the Pantages Theatre (Hollywood) and American Musical Theatre San Jose. Ben Jones returns to Broadway By the Bay to play Millie's "pal,"
Jimmy Smith; he previously appeared in the company's production of Show Boat as Ravenal, for which he received a nomination for a Bay Area Theatre Critic's Circle Award. Other credits include roles at Eastlight Theatre in Illinois, Carousel Equity Theatre in Ohio, and upcoming concert roles at Oakland East Bay Symphony. Broadway By the Bay veteran Dominique Bonino returns to the company as Millie's newfound friend, Miss Dorothy. Bonino has appeared in Broadway By the Bay productions of Annie Get Your Gun and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, and at the Diablo Light Opera Company. William Giammona makes his Broadway By the Bay debut as Mr. Graydon; he was most recently seen at New Conservatory Theatre (Thrill Me) and Lamplighters Music Theatre (Secret Garden). Also making her Broadway By the Bay debut as Mrs. Meers is Mary Gibboney, whose recent credits include American Musical Theatre of San Jose and TheatreWorks.
Composer Jeanine Tesori (music) is acclaimed for her work on the Tony-nominated musicals Caroline or Change and THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, for which she composed 11 new songs. Additionally, Tesori contributed music to the 1998 Broadway production of William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and composed music for the hit Off-Broadway musical Violet. In 2006, she collaborated again with
Tony Kushner, composing new music for his translation of Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, which was produced as part of the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park season. In addition to her work as a composer, Tesori has also served as an arranger, conductor, and musician for several Broadway musicals, including The Secret Garden, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Swing!. She is currently working on songs for the new Walt Disney Pictures animated film Rapunzel.
Dick Scanlan (lyrics) began his career as an actor and comedian, but in the early nineties, he turned his attention to writing. In 1991, Scanlan contacted Richard Morris, director of the 1967 film, who eventually agreed to a collaboration for the stage. Scanlan lives in New York, and recently presented a one night only fundraiser for Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS called You May Now Worship Me, a collection of musical short stories featuring Tony Award nominee Sherie Rene Scott, penned by Scanlan and Scott. THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE is his only completed production.
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Brooke Knight, Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award-winning Broadway By the Bay creates full-scale musical theatre productions of professional quality that are family-friendly, accessible to everyone, and affordable to all. Now in its 43rd season, Broadway By the Bay is the largest theatre company on the Peninsula, offering first-rate productions to nearly 6,000 season subscribers and more than 3,000 single show ticket sales per production. Lauded for its efforts in education, the Youth Theatre Conservatory, for young people 4-17, gives younger students solid foundations in acting, singing, and dancing for the musical theatre. For those 18 and over, the Musical Theatre Conservatory offers professional classes to adults of all ages. Students aspiring to achieve a professional level of performance skills are taught by instructors who have excelled in their specialties. Musical Theatre Conservatory's intensive summer program is offered in conjunction with Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
