A thoroughly high-spirited 'Modern Millie'

Take several dozen girls dressed in 1920's attire, a sinister hotel owner, a sourpuss stenographer, and a young woman with big dreams, and you have Thoroughly Modern Millie, a humorous, high-spirited musical, brought to the stage by a group of talented students from Archmere Academy.

 Thoroughly Modern Millie started out as a movie starring Julie Andrews and James Fox. It was adapted into a successful musical that won Best Musical and six other Tony Awards in 2002. The upbeat music was by Jeanine Tesori with lyrics by Dick Scanlan. Millie is a young woman seeking employment in The Big Apple in 1922, the flapper era. While checking into The Priscilla Hotel, Millie meets Mrs. Meers, the hotel owner with a sinister plan, Ching Ho and Bun Foo, her two Chinese immigrant co-conspirators, and Miss Dorothy, a hopeful actress. Millie ends up in jail for drinking to celebrate finding a job and meets Jimmy, a handsome, humble man who has caught her eye.

Archmere Academy's performance of Thoroughly Modern Millie had several well choreographed numbers. Although some lines were not clearly enunciated, the cast as a whole persevered and made a significant improvement in the second act.

Cara Tozzoli (Millie) easily hit notes with emotion and power in songs such as "Gimme Gimme," filling the entire house. Megan Stellini (Miss Dorothy) kept the audience enthralled with her sweet soprano voice and jovial character throughout the entire show. Samantha Ciarrocchi (Mrs. Meers) played a humorous, yet villainous character, smoothly and effectively transitioning from a stereotypical Chinese accent to an American accent. Bradley Bakst (Ching Ho) and Kyle Townsend (Bun Foo) both did an impressive job of delivering lines in Chinese, as well as during the song "Not for the Life of Me (Reprise)." The stenographers from the ensemble put plenty of energy into each of their musical numbers, which received an extended wave of applause from the audience.

The outstanding costumes and the creative set brought the show together. A projector was used cleverly to let the audience know the setting of each scene as well as providing captions when needed. While the live band overpowered some of the actors' lines, audience members gave a standing ovation, suggesting that these minor glitches did not completely detract from enjoyment of the musical.

Archmere Academy tackled a highly acclaimed musical enthusiastically and by the end of the show applause and cheers filled the house.