Brooklynite plays a country gal — who becomes a city slicker!
Kids in grades six through eight were greeted with roars of applause following their performance of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” at Marine Park’s PS 207 on April 3 and 4, a sterling adaptation of the 2002 Broadway musical, which won the Best Musical Tony award, about a country girl headed to the big city.
“I’ve seen the Broadway version and it was wonderful,” said the school’s drama director, Kimberly Simek, “but I’d rather see the kids.”
The story, set in the 1920s, follows Millie Dillmount, played by eighth-grader Taylor Haniss, who escapes from the bland monotony of life in Kansas to the glittering towers and busy streets of the Big Apple, where she’s intent on forgetting about love and marrying for wealth.
But things don’t exactly pan out like Dillmount expects and, one mugging, an orphan-snatching landlord, and 18 song-and-dance routines later, she learns that a life without love — wealthy or not — may not be what she needs, after all.
Throughout all the antics, singing and dancing, the play’s lead stole the show with her talent and professionalism, said Simek.
“Taylor did beautifully,” she said. “To see her grow from the beginning of the process to how she did on stage was phenomenal. It was a very meaty roll and I think she did fantastic.”
Reach reporter Colin MIxson at cmixson@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-4514.
