A thoroughly not-so-modern Millie by Music Circus

Mara Davi as Millie
Photo by Charr Crail

A somewhat shopworn rags-to-riches musical, “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” still carries a punch thanks to a thoroughly slick production by Sacramento’s Music Circus at the Wells Fargo Pavillion. Starring a thoroughly modern Mara Davi, a gorgeous and versatile Sacramento girl who’s made it big on Broadway, the story fields a brilliant professional cast backed by a fine orchestra under Musical Director Bill Stanley.

Based on the 1967 film starring Julie Andrews, the story is set in 1922 New York and follows the career of Millie Dillmount (Davi), an ambitious Kansas girl with a warped view of what it means to be “modern.” Dismissing love as an ingredient in a happy marriage, she aims to marry a rich man who can give her everything she craves.

Right off, her purse is stolen along with one shoe. Getting no help from indifferent New Yorkers, she trips a young man, Jimmy Smith (Matt Loehr), destined to play a key role in her life. He directs her to the Priscilla Hotel for Women, her base for finding a job with a wealthy and marriageable boss. In a dazzling scene at the Sincere Trust Insurance Company, she’s hired as a stenographer by Trevor Graydon III (Robert Townsend) after taking dictation at breakneck speed, then reading it back equally fast.

While struggling to lure Trevor into a proposal, she stays on at the hotel, run by a comically sinister Mrs. Meers (Ruth Williamson), a failed actress who pretends to be Chinese, and as we later find out conducts a white slavery business, shipping unattached girls to Hong Kong with the aid of a pair of Chinese brothers, Ching Ho (Billy Bustamente) and Bun Foo (Reggie de Leon). At the hotel Millie also befriends Miss Dorothy Brown (Megan McGinnis), who becomes a temporary rival for Trevor’s love.

Millie’s social climbing also includes meeting the rich and famous through singer and bon vivant Muzzy Von Hossmere (Karole Foreman). Jimmy keeps showing up intermittently as the attraction between him and Millie becomes increasingly apparent, especially in a jail cell after they’ve been arrested at a speakeasy.

All is resolved during two acts filled with 15 songs, including the perennial favorite “I’m Falling in Love with Someone” and the catchy “Gimme Gimme.” As often happens with this show, Muzzy almost steals it. True to form, Foreman’s delivery of “Only in New York” makes us feel she’s underutilized. She presides over one of the show’s funniest scenes, which takes place in her apartment, where Millie spills champagne on Dorothy Parker’s (Merrill West) dress and tries to clean it off with soy sauce.

Coincidentally, Muzzy was played in the film by Carol Channing, who made a surprise appearance on opening night of the current production, where she announced her benefit show on August 31. The benefit will be in support of her Foundation for the Arts, aimed at maintaining the arts in education.

Also noteworthy in the cast is a solid performance by Matt Loehr as the improbable Jimmy Smith, by Williamson as the wicked yet goofy Mrs. Meers, and by Bustamente and De Leon as a pair of certifiably believable Chinese brothers. Add to that the exquisite voice of McGinnis as Miss Dorothy.

Also notable is the sharp directing by Glenn Casale and choreography by John MacInnis.

Theater in the round has it pros and cons at the Wells Fargo Pavilion. Actors make dramatic entrances down the aisles, and unlike many large auditoriums the acoustics are close to ideal. One big negative is the shallow rake of the seats. If you sit behind someone taller than you, you’ll be watching the action through tunnels over the arm rests. I don’t know if the ushers will let you in with a pillow or an inflated innertube.

“Thoroughly Modern Millie runs through July 12 at 1419 H Street in Sacramento. Performances are July 9 at 2 and 8 p.m., July 10 at 8 p.m., July 11 at 2 and 8 p.m., and July 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $41-53 and available at the box office, Tickets.com or by telephone at 916-557-1999.