Broadway Rose Theatre to Present THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

Broadway Rose Theatre Company continues its 2015 Season of Bright Beginnings with a tap dancing musical comedy being presented at the Deb Fennell Auditorium.

The winner of six TONY Awards including Best Musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie was the 2002 season's most awarded new show on Broadway. Based on the 1967 Academy Award-winning film, Thoroughly Modern Millie takes you back to the height of the Jazz Age in New York City, when "moderns" - including a flapper named Millie Dillmount - were bobbing their hair, raising their hemlines, entering the workforce, and rewriting the rules of love. This high-spirited musical romp is a delightful valentine to the long-standing spirit of New York City and the people who seek to discover themselves there.

Set in New York City in 1922, Thoroughly Modern Millie tells the story of young Millie Dillmount from Kansas who comes to New York in search of a new life for herself. Her grand plan is to find a job as a secretary for a wealthy man and then marry him. However, her plan goes completely awry. The owner of her dingy hotel kidnaps young girls to sell to the Far East; her wealthy boss is slow in proposing marriage; and the man she actually falls in love with doesn't have a dime to his name - or so he tells her.

Filled with frisky flappers, dashing leading men, and a villainess audiences will love to hate, Thoroughly Modern Millie is a perfectly constructed evening of madcap merriment, explosive tap numbers, charming songs, and the energy and optimism of the Roaring Twenties.

With music by Jeanine Tesori, lyrics by Dick Scanlan, and a book by Richard Morris and Scanlan, Thoroughly Modern Millie will keep audiences smiling and tapping their toes.

Claire Avakian will star as Millie Dillmount and Joel Walker as Jimmy Smith. Other cast members include Joe Theissen as Trevor Graydon III, Emily Sahler as Mrs. Meers, Lisamarie Harrison as Miss Flannery, Katie Perry as Dorothy Brown, Annie Kaiser as Muzzy van Hossmere, Samson Syharath as Bun Foo, and Heath Houghton as Ching Ho.

The show will be directed and choreographed by Lyn Cramer with musical direction by Alan D. Lytle. The creative team also includes Grace O'Malley (Costume Supervisor), Gene Dent (Lighting Designer), Tim Richey (Sound Designer), Jim Crino (Properties Supervisor), Jessica Carr (Wig Designer), and Jessica Downs (Production Stage Manager).

Preview performance is Thursday, July 2 with opening night on Friday, July 3, and performances continue through July 26, 2015. Evening performances are Thursday through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Matinees are at 2 p.m. on Sundays, and on Saturdays, July 18 and 25. There is no performance July 4th. Performance are held at the Deb Fennell Auditorium located at 9000 SW Durham Road in Tigard.

Broadway Rose's 2015 season is funded in part by the Regional Arts & Culture Council and Work for Art as well as the Oregon Arts Commission and the City of Tigard. The Title Sponsor and Production Sponsor for Thoroughly Modern Millie is Pearson Financial. The Oregonian is the media sponsor.

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