Thoroughly Modern Millie (Original Broadway Cast)

Original Broadway Cast

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Thoroughly Modern Millie (Original Broadway Cast) Review

by William Ruhlmann

It has been observed that Broadway has long since become a group of virtual repertory theaters in which revivals of successful musicals from decades past rule the roost. The next-best thing to an outright revival, perhaps, is a "new" show based on old material and employing at least some of the old music. The Producers, the hit of the 2000-2001 season, fits that description, and so does the hit of the 2001-2002 season, Thoroughly Modern Millie. The work began as a movie musical written as a vehicle for Julie Andrews in 1967, using mostly vintage music true to its 1922 setting, but with a title song by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen and a few other newly written Jazz Age-style numbers. The trifle of a plot, about a small-town girl coming to the big city to seek a rich husband (ho-hum), was just an excuse to parade flapper costumes through production numbers. Although it tapped into a brief vogue for the 1920s in the mid-'60s, the film was more a curiosity than anything else. But young Dick Scanlon seems to have been entranced, and he eventually talked screenwriter Richard Morris into collaborating on a stage version. He also wrote lyrics to a bunch of new songs with Jeanine Tesori. The result remains weightless and retro, the best songs being the originals (which means Jay Thompson's "Jimmy" and Victor Herbert's "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life," in addition to the title song). Gilbert & Sullivan and Tchaikovsky are also referenced. The cast is led by the aggressive Sutton Foster, who seems to be channeling film co-star Mary Tyler Moore, not Andrews. This is not a musical likely to be worthy of revival itself in 35 years, but it is deeply in Broadway tradition, a throwback to an earlier, sillier time.

Track Listing

Title/Composer Performer Time Stream
Thoroughly Modern Millie, musical play
1
Overture
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Lawrence Feldman / Lawrence Goldberg / Mark Johnson / Michael Rafter / Walt Weiskopf / Allen Won / Lawrence Yurman 02:37 SpotifyAmazon
2
Not for the Life of Me
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Sutton Foster 02:10 SpotifyAmazon
3
Thoroughly Modern Millie (for the film "Thoroughly Modern Millie")
Sammy Cahn / James Van Heusen
Kate Baldwin / Roxane Barlow / Catherine Brunell / Joyce Chittick / Julie Connors / Dave Eggers / Sutton Foster 02:57 SpotifyAmazon
Thoroughly Modern Millie, musical play
4
Not for the Life of Me (reprise)
Jeanine Tesori
Kate Baldwin / Catherine Brunell / Sutton Foster / JoAnn M. Hunter / Alisa Klein / Megan Sikora 02:04 SpotifyAmazon
5
How the Other Half Lives
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Angela Christian / Sutton Foster 02:42 SpotifyAmazon
6
Not for the Life of Me (reprise)
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Francis Jue 01:05 SpotifyAmazon
7
The Speed Test (after Sir Arthur Sullivan)
Dick Scanlan / Arthur Sullivan / Jeanine Tesori
Kate Baldwin / Roxane Barlow / Catherine Brunell / Joyce Chittick / Julie Connors / Dave Eggers / Gregg Goodbrod 05:54 SpotifyAmazon
8
They Don't Know
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
02:09 SpotifyAmazon
9
The Nuttycracker Suite
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Lawrence Feldman / Lawrence Goldberg / Mark Johnson / Michael Rafter / Walt Weiskopf / Allen Won / Lawrence Yurman 03:25 SpotifyAmazon
10
What Do I Need with Love?
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Gavin Creel 03:03 SpotifyAmazon
11
Only In New York
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Sheryl Lee Ralph 03:40 SpotifyAmazon
12
Jimmy (for the musical play "Thoroughly Modern Millie")
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori / Jay Thompson
Sutton Foster 03:28 SpotifyAmazon
Thoroughly Modern Millie, musical play
13
Back at Work
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Lawrence Feldman / Sutton Foster / Lawrence Goldberg / Michael Rafter / Walt Weiskopf / Allen Won / Lawrence Yurman 00:25 SpotifyAmazon
14
Forget About The Boy
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Kate Baldwin / Roxane Barlow / Catherine Brunell / Joyce Chittick / Julie Connors / Dave Eggers / Gregg Goodbrod 03:23 SpotifyAmazon
15
Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life / I'm Falling in Love with Someone (after Victor Herbert)
Victor Herbert / Jeanine Tesori / Rida Johnson Young
Angela Christian / Marc Kudisch 03:37 SpotifyAmazon
16
I Turned the Corner / I'm Falling in Love with Someone (after Victor Herbert) (quartet/reprise)
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori / Rida Johnson Young
Angela Christian / Gavin Creel / Sutton Foster / Marc Kudisch 04:11 SpotifyAmazon
17
Muquin (after "Mammy")
Walter Donaldson / Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori / Joe Young
Francis Jue 02:17 SpotifyAmazon
18
Long as I'm Here With You
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Dave Eggers / Aldrin Gonzalez / Gregg Goodbrod / Darren Lee / Dan LoBuono / Casey Nicholaw / Noah Racey / Sheryl Lee Ralph 02:24 SpotifyAmazon
19
Gimme Gimme
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Sutton Foster 03:34 SpotifyAmazon
20
Finale (after Jimmy Van Heusen)
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Kate Baldwin / Roxane Barlow / Catherine Brunell / Joyce Chittick / Julie Connors / Dave Eggers / Gregg Goodbrod 01:20 SpotifyAmazon
21
Final Bows
Dick Scanlan / Jeanine Tesori
Lawrence Feldman / Lawrence Goldberg / Mark Johnson / Michael Rafter / Walt Weiskopf / Allen Won / Lawrence Yurman 02:07 SpotifyAmazon
blue highlight denotes track pick
Thoroughly Modern Millie (Original Broadway Cast)

Original Broadway Cast Discography Browser