December 21, 2006
By Lucky Sindane
FROM Broadway to Mzansi, the spectacular Thoroughly Modern Millie kicks off the Civic Theatre's 2007 calendar.
The hit show is on at the Civic's Nelson Mandela Theatre from 11 January to 25 February 2007. Bernard Jay, the Civic's chief executive officer, brought together British theatre producer Paul Elliott, the original lead producer for the West End and United Kingdom productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie, and local promoter Roddy Quinn, to bring the show to South Africa.
Samantha Peo plays the lead in the hit Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie
The Civic's production will use the West End sets and costumes, but the cast and company are completely South African. Thoroughly Modern Millie won the 2002 Broadway Tony Award for best musical.
"There just isn't enough product being created within South Africa to occupy our Nelson Mandela Theatre stage 50 weeks each year. And yet we have all seen in recent years that the skills and talents exist in the country to turn large-scale musical productions into hit shows," Jay explains.
"So we needed to be pro-active and bring together some major international players to make this event happen locally. Thoroughly Modern Millie will be just the beginning," he promises.
The play is about young Millie Dillmount, a girl from America's mid-west who arrives in New York determined to take the town by storm. Millie's New York is one full of intrigue and jazz. The singing, dancing, romancing musical takes place in Manhattan 1922, with all its jazz age razzamatazz.
"Moderns", including a flapper called Millie Dillmount, were bobbing their hair, raising their hemlines, entering the workforce and rewriting the rules of love.
Based on the 1967 George Roy Hill film starring Julie Andrews and Mary Tyler Moore, which won an Oscar for best original music score, the stage version of Thoroughly Modern Millie includes a full score of new songs and bright dance numbers.
Legendary entertainer Abigail Kubeka as Muzzy Van Hossmere
Millie is played by Samantha Peo, who won unanimous acclaim last year from audiences and media critics alike for her stunning performance as Roxie Hart in Chicago, The Musical.
Also featuring in the play is the legendary jazz singer Abigail Kubheka, who plays the dynamic, quintessential New Yorker Muzzy Van Hossmere.
"Acting is my first love but I have always been more active in singing," Kubheka says. "Singing allows me to act out a role, to show what I'm feeling. My career has blossomed so much and I've never been happier in my life."
Tickets are available from Computicket for R235. Ticket prices for preview performances, from 11 to 13 January 2007, are discounted by R50.
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