Customer Reviews

Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Original Broadway Cast)

5 star:		(67)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(9)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE opened to mostly-excellent reviews at the Marquis Theatre earlier this year, and led the charge at this year's Tony Awards.

Newcomer Sutton Foster is a revelation as Millie. When she played the Star-To-Be in the recent Broadway revival of ANNIE, she might as well have been predicting her future when she sang: 'NYC/I give you fair warning/Up there/In lights/I'll be'. Her glorious voice soars in such numbers as "Not For the Life of Me", "Gimme Gimme", "Jimmy" and "Forget About the Boy". Needless to say, Foster's Tony win as Best Actress is well-deserved.

The rest of the cast includes Marc Kudisch, Gavin Creel, "Frasier"'s Harriet Harris, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Angela Christian.

Among the rest of the stand-out numbers are "I Turned the Corner", "They Don't Know", "Long As I'm Here with You" and a hilarious Chinese version of "My Mammy" entitled "Mugin".

It looks like THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE will be firmly playing on Broadway for many years to come. (RCA).

To start this cd is terrific.It includes great new and old music.A mixture of popular 1920's jazz and operatic things.With the cd's great orchestration on the title song you'll be humming it in your sleep.Both the title song and "Not for the Life of Me" are heard frequently.Sutton Foster sings all her numbers beautiflly.Highlights of her numbers are "Forget About the Boy","Gimme Gimme",and "Jimmy"."The Speed Test" is an extermely comic number filled with tap dancing typists and office workers.Sheryl Lee Ralph sings her numbers ("Only in New York" and "Long as I'm Here with You")very well and has a powerful voice.Gavin Creel is a pleasure to hear as Jimmy singing the rakish "What Do I Need with Love" and the love song "I Turned the Corner".Last,there is the entertaining "The Nuttycracker Suite".Which is a jazz version of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite.I feel this cd is a must for any musical theater lovers and great for those who like old-fashioned musical theater.

If you like musicals, you will NOT REGRET purchasing this musical soundtrack. JUST DO IT. It's so great, you will be listening to it forever. I also saw the show at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and it's one of the best I've ever seen. (And I've seen A LOT.)

Have Fun!

This one of the best stage productions to come along in a long time. It is everything a musical should be. It's funny and romantic, the music is wonderful, the lyrics are beautiful and the book is just fantastic. The music is just glorious. Sutton Foster has a voice to die for and she is an unbelievable dancing talent. Harriet Harris really came into her own, not like she needed a role such as this to show us her talents. Her performance on Frasier is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her ability. Sheryl Lee Ralph truly shines and I expect big, if not bigger things, from her in the near future. All in all, this is a phenomenal casting job, Foster is the spitting image of the film star Mary Tyler Moore, topped of with wondeful performances of truly outstanding music. If you can't see it, take my word for it and BUY THIS CD, then go see it... like me. The only thing I find disappointing is the absense of the Entr'acte. It's no big deal, it doesn't detract from the show at all, but I like to see those on recording. Broadway at it's best!!! This receives my highest recommendation.

Thoroughly Modern Millie is one of those shows that pleases 90% of the crowd as a fun, fluffy, musical that harkens back to shows like Bells are Ringing and 42nd Street. As for the other 10%, there's only so many times you can see a show like Millie and therefore, to me at least, is generally unimpressive.

I think the show's saving grace is Harriet Harris, whose comic timing is divine. Sutton Foster, while she fits the part, starts off as a fresh new talent and then by the end of the show becomes repetitive.

As for the score, it does give a pretty good representation of 1920s fare, and some of the songs' lyrics have a nice wit to them. Forget About the Boy is pretty catchy, same for Not for the Life of Me. However, after a while, the songs seem to blend into one another and all sound the same. I think the two I play most are the Nuttycracker Suite (a rather clever salute to Tchaikovsky) and Muqin for the showcase of Harris' talent. Marc Kudisch has a talent, but it seems to me it is the same talent I saw in Bells are Ringing, and he's merely continuing that role.

All in all, you could do worse when buying a cast album, and for most people it will be guaranteed to please with toe-tapping rythms and a somewhat solid cast with a story that translates well onto CD. However, if you're a 10 percenter, it may get played once or twice and then stay on the shelf. Hey, you could do worse and get something like By Jeeves.

This is a great recording of music in the classic style of the grand musicals. The voices are spot on and the instrumentation is alive, especially with the horns adding excitement.

A sparkling Broadway lead debut from Sutton Foster (run, don't walk to any live performances given by Ms. Sutton) with superb comedic support given by Mark Kudisch and Harriet Harris (who won the Tony Award for this performance)

I had the privilege of making a quicky trip to NYC last weekend JUST to catch Gypsy before it closed on the 30th... and I saw it twice! Ha! But that's another story...

During the stay we decided to check out Thoroughly Modern Millie as well. I have loved the 1967 movie since I was a tiny tot, and when I found out Broadway had finally gotten their hands on it, I bought the recording. Now, I bought the CD a few months ago. Plenty of time to get into it and have every song stuck in my head for weeks to come, eh? No cost. I never fully got into this recording. Maybe it was all the new material I wasn't familiar with? Maybe I was bitter that this Broadway musical seemed like an entirely different show all together? Something wasn't clicking right.

I just needed a little help of VISUAL AID, I guess!

I enjoyed the show "thoroughly" and ended up having quite a few numbers stuck in my head the following days we were in the city. It was bothering me that I left the recording at home and had no access to it for the time being.

I caught an entirely different cast than what is heard on the recording. I got the UNDERSTUDY of Susan Egan as Millie, Emily Rozek (who was absolutely FANTASTIC. I don't see how Egan could top this girl.) Leslie Uggams as Muzzy, a truly inspiring comedienne Dixie Carter as Mrs. Meers, yet another understudy Richard Roland as Jimmy, Kevin Early as Mr. Graydon, and possibly the only original left, a fabulous Angela Christian as Ms. Dororthy.

A particular stand out for me is "Forget About the Boy", along with "What Do I Need With Love", "How the Other Half Lives", "Not For the Life of Me", and of course the showstoping "Gimme Gimme". The overture and title song are equally exciting.

I wish I could have seen the much raved about Sutton Foster as the leading lady, though I am undoubtedly very happy with the cast I got.

Very cute, very fun, and very hopeful. 3 words that came to my mind as the house was cheering with standing ovations. With a few disappointments here and there about numbers that didn't get carried from the film to the stage, I had a great time.

Go see it before it closes on June 20th!!

I am a musical addict, and I must say that after I saw this show, I knew I had to buy the soundtrack! I have listened to it backwards and forwards, the vocal talent is amazing and the tunes are all so catchy and fun. The lyrics are all incredibly clever and entertaining (Not For the Life of Me ~ Chinese style! and Speed Test especially!). I highly recommend this cd (and the musical!), for it is sure to become a classic, feel-good musical, and the fact that Sutton Foster is Millie is reason enough to buy it! She is astounding as Millie and this will mark the beginning of a surely successful carrer in the business! If you want to smile on the way to work, definitely buy this cd!

This CD is amazing, the show is even more amazing...this show is exactly what Broadway musicals should be like...no more boring operettas from England, PLEASE!! Let's get back to the best shows with huge dance numbers! Millie is just the show Broadway has needed for a long time. But of course the best part of this show is Sutton Foster...her voice is the best to be heard on Broadway in YEARS...and Broadway has the BEST singing in the world! Sutton Foster's voice has incredible versatility and character, just what a Broadway actress needs. She hits notes that NO other person in the world can. If you were lucky enough to see her as Eponine in Les Miserabels in 1999, you know what I mean. When she sings "On My Own" it is like nothing else. The climax of that song is amazing and Sutton hits it with more power than anyone else could. Go to see this show! GO GO GO! Then buy this CD so you can listen to Suttons amazing "Gimme Gimme" every day! Sutton Foster will be back on Broadway for sure. I can't wait for her next endeavor I will be there for sure! Sutton will knock your socks off for sure...ask anyone you has heard her sing