ARTS COMMENTARY

Like any young woman, Millie Dillmount considers herself "thoroughly modern." She moves from small-town Kansas to New York City, undergoes a makeover, and decides she's going to marry for money.

She isn't in the city long, before she lands a job as stenographer for Trevor Graydon.

Though Graydon's a rich bachelor, he unfortunately isn't as "modern" as Millie. He's rather old-fashioned, in fact. He wants to marry for love.

Imagine that.

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" may be set in the roaring '20s, but it's as current as today's reality shows.

Only a lot more fun.

Or, as Millie would say, it's so worthwhile.

The Naples Players' annual summer musical always seems like a gift to yearrounders, as if they're saying, "We know the snow-birds have gone home and you're still here enduring a hot, sweltering summer: here's something to make you glad you stay."

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" plays at the Sugden Community Theatre through July 25.

It's been an uneven past season for the Players, but they definitely have a hit on their hands with "Millie."

COURTESY PHOTO "Thoroughly Modern Millie" plays at the Sugden Community Theatre through July 25. The musical's set in a world full of bobs, fringe, the Charleston and speakeasys. What's not to like?

You can tell, from the very beginning, that director Dallas Dunnagan has guided this musical with her expertise. Everything is top-notch. And when the ensemble joins Millie onstage for the second number, "Thoroughly Modern Millie," you think to yourself: "This is going

to be fun!"

Whitney Winfield's Millie is winsome and head-strong, a thoroughly likeable character. She possesses, to use an oldfashioned term, plenty of moxie. She knows what she wants, and she's going to go out and get it.

Early in the show, when she's just arrived in New York City, she meets Jimmy Smith (John McKerrow). He falls in love with her, but fights it.

Unfortunately, the two actors don't have much chemistry on stage. I would've liked to have seen more sparks, even though the characters are trying to fight their feelings.

Though McKerrow's character has a certain earnest, boyish charm, at times, especially in the beginning, he comes across as a gangster rather than a New Yorker. He seems as if he'd be more comfortable in "Guys and Dolls." It's as if Mc Kerrow is still trying to find his character.

Paul Graffy plays Mr. Graydon, Millie's object of affection, as pompous and a little stuffy. While dictating a letter to Millie, he sings at an incredible breakneck pace "The Speed Test," which is a Gilbert and Sullivan tune with new lyrics. And later, in Act II, in "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life/I'm Falling in Love With Someone," he literally flutters about the stage as he declares his love.

It's wonderfully over-the-top, comic book-corny.

In fact, the entire show is.

And that's what makes it so much fun. It's not meant to be taken seriously.

After all, the plot includes white slavery, hidden identities, and a hotel elevator that works if you tap dance in it.

Millie finds shelter at the Hotel Priscilla, a place where young girls wanting to become actresses stay. The establishment's run by Mrs. Meers (Ellen Cooper), who makes the most of society's tendency to ignore minorities. A has-been actor, Mrs. Meers is frustrated by being overlooked, and so turns her "invisibility" into an advantage.

Ms. Cooper's terrific in this role, sashaying about, bossing around Ching Ho (Vinnie Santiago) and Bun Foo (Joseph Yazvac) and even singing "Mammy" in Chinese.

Rachel Ewy plays Miss Dorothy Brown, another young woman who wants to become an actress in New York City. Millie befriends her. Ms. Ewy portrays the innocent young woman without being sickeningly sweet, and shows off her considerable voice in a duet with Mr. Graffy.

And Mary Anne McAvoy McKerrow portrays Muzzy, a filthy rich nightclub singer, with a diva's sense of grandeur. It's a lush, luxurious role, and Ms. McKerrow makes the most of it.

Special mention must be made of Beverly Canell, (Millie's dour boss, Miss Flannery.) Ms. Cannell seems to be the Naples Players' reliable go-to person for perpetually unhappy characters, and it's easy to see why; no one can glower like Ms. Cannell, who acts as if lives on a diet of lemons.

The solos in this production are strong, and the ensemble numbers equally so. When the entire cast is on stage, singing and dancing, it's riveting.

Actors in musicals usually fall in one of two categories: movers or dancers. Choreographer Dawn Lebrecht Fornara has taken a group of movers and transformed them into dancers, whether they're doing a drunken Charleston in a speakeasy or tap dancing en masse. That is an admirable accomplishment, especially in community theater.

The orchestra, led by musical director Charles Fornara, is great, but at times overpowers the singers. The sound balance needs to be fixed, with either more amplification for some of the singers or an orchestra that plays softer.

Costume designer Dot Auchmoody obviously had fun dressing this musical. At times, the main characters are in color, while the ensemble is dressed in black and white. The only misstep is Mrs. Meer's Chinese gown, which seems too big and too long for her; the proportions don't seem right. But that's a quibble. Carol Smith was in charge of the musical's many wigs, turning 21st century women into roaring twenties girls with bobbed hair.

Matt Flynn's minimal sets are impressionistic more than realistic, though I couldn't help wondering why a skyscraper's ledge was painted in an odd splotchy green color. (And on opening night, the crew seemed to have difficulty getting some of the sets in place quickly, particularly the drops.)

"Thoroughly Modern Millie" is non-stop fun from beginning to end. Especially outstanding are "Forget About the Boy" with tap dancing stenographers and "The Nutty Cracker Suite," set in a speakeasy, with the hilarious police lineup the follows.

Millie comes to New York to conquer the big city; in doing so, she'll also conquer your heart.

.. If you go

>>What: "Thoroughly Modern Millie"
>>When: through July 25
>>Where: The Sugden Community Theatre,
701 5th Avenue South, Naples
>>Cost: $30 (students through 18 years of
age, $10)
>>Info: Call (239) 263-7990 or go to
www.naplesplayers.org.