"...Everyone Is Entitled To My Opinion." ~Madonna

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Bald Eagle Area High School/ Thoroughly Modern Millie.

If you missed Bald Eagle Area High School's spring production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, you missed an excellent high school musical. The show was full of energy, loads of unexpected talent, and fast paced action. The amount of rehearsal time must have been exhausting.

For openers, the orchestra was not only very good, but at no time did it drown out the singers...one of my personal pet peeves. Secondly, the ensemble cast of singers and dancers stayed in character, not only when they were singing and dancing their hearts out, but also when they were part of the background. This was some of the neatest group tap numbers that I have seen in a high school production. It must have required hours of work.

Thoroughly Modern Millie requires a large cast and allows the featured actors their moments to shine. And shine they did.

Michael Bailey and Tim Durachko had to learn Chinese to play Bun Foo and Ching Ho.They played the characters in a very believable way, until they sang "Muquin". If the audience did not hear Al Jolson's "Mammie" from the music, the sub-titles gave it away. Very well done and very funny.

The show also gave a nod to composer Victor Herbert in the love scene between Miss Dorothy and Mr. Graydon, Salvannah Elder and Matthew Blaylock. Their parody of "Ah Sweet Mystery of Life" would have made old Victor proud. Salvannah has a voice meant for operetta, sweet, clear and trilling. It was good to see that she could handle the comedy in her role as well.

It is a shame that Matthew Blaylock is a senior. He can sing, but his talent is his ability to do broad comedy. His duet with Salvannah was delightful, but "Speed Test" with Millie was brilliant, bringing Gilbert and Sullivan's fast patter style to mind. Oh, and did I mention his ability to jump to the top of a desk in a single bound?

Two other character actors really were standouts. Alice Statham as the evil Mrs. Meers had a chance to pull off some really off the wall comedy. Her "Chinese" landlady and wicked white slave seller was beyond outrageous.

Madison Maney may have been the surprise of the evening. As Muzzy Van Hossmere, retired actrss, her first appearance was in a black, a-la-torch singer's dress and she won me at once. During her baton number, I held my breath waiting for a mistake. It never happened. I can not wait to see what these two talents will do next year.

Another outstanding actor is Colton Lucas. We have seen in past plays that Colton can sing, act, and take command of the stage. As the romantic lead, Jimmy Smith, we saw all of the above plus a romantic side that was very believable. Luckily, we will have Colton for next year. Can. Not. Wait.

All of these, and more, were good, but the star of the show was Millie herself and Karina Bloom was perfect. Karina has unbounded energy and as the young inocent who is determined to be modern and marry for money was the ideal role for her. She had the opportunity to do quite a bit of singing ( the "SpeedTest" number had to be a challenge for any actor), but this was not the role to show off the brilliance and range of her voice. Luckily, we have heard that in Sound Of Music. This is a talent that will be missed at Bald Eagle.

Thoroughly Modern Millie was a new show for me, so I was not sure what to expect. It was fun to see the 1920's captured so well in costumes and sets. Speaking of sets, the stage crew was very fast and efficient in scene changes, an important part of any show. High school plays keep getting better and better. Thanks go to director Kristen Betts for a great evening.

Remember to check out the photographs at meadowlanephoto@aol.com.

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