February is going to be a fun month for the Central Stage Theatre of Kitsap.
The musical gurus of CSTOCK have chosen “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the story of a country girl who goes to New York looking to marry into money and ends up chasing love in Manhattan’s madcap flapper scene, as the theater’s first production of 2008.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” debuted as a film starring a 27-year-old Julie Andrews in one of the happiest pictures of 1967. The movie was nominated for seven Academy Awards and five Golden Globes that year, of which it won one Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score, composed by Elmer Bernstein.
It was adapted for the stage almost 40 years later, winning six Tony awards in 2002, including best musical.
So it seems fitting that Kitsap’s most musical theater — CSTOCK — will be bringing Millie Dillmount back to the stage. Kitsap composer Darryl Spadaccini is the man behind the music at CSTOCK while theater president Trina Williamson directs.
Millie, played at CSTOCK by Cherisse Martinelli, is a young girl from a farm town in Kansas who escapes to New York City, bobs her hair and assumes the modern, flapper look. She plans to marry her wealthy boss, whomever it may be, but instead she falls in love with a poor paperclip salesman, Jimmy Smith (CSTOCK’s Eric Richardson).
Jimmy, however, seems to be interested in Millie’s new friend, an actress Miss Dorothy Brown.
Amidst that love triangle, things get even weirder when it becomes apparent that the proprietor of the hotel which they are staying in, Mrs. Meers (Sharon Greany) is actually the leader of a white slave ring in China, aiming to kidnap any orphans, a lot like Millie, who check in.
“Thoroughly Modern Millie” will run Feb. 15 through March 9 at CSTOCK, with shows at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 6 p.m. Sundays at the Silverdale Community Center, 9729 Silverdale Way. Tickets are $12 general, $7 for seniors, students and military, available at the door or the Kitsap Mall information booth. Info: www.cstock.org
