"forget about the boy"

"Forget about the Boy"
Thoroughly Modern Millie

That's right--musical theatre! K Daniel and I went to the Murat tonight to see an absolutely fabulous performance of "Thoroughly Modern Millie".

The pieces starts with Millie singing (at the Sincere Trust Insurance Co.) and later turns into a women's chorus number. It opens with a chord and Millie singing over no accompaniment--mostly this declares to the audience the degree of honesty portrayed in the song. She's talking about how she's done with Jimmy. She's going strong with a jazzy feeling in a mostly major tonality in a sweep of self-assured independence until all at once with the surge of a muted trombone she says his name.

With the mention of "Jimmy", the mood changes entirely to a love-sick ballad as all the chorus girls chime in with the names of the men who've done them wrong. The chorus girls pick up right where Millie's left off (with a reprise of the A section), but she's still crooning his name as the orchestra lightly gives chords on pick ups and downbeats (so that we don't lose our grounding).

Millie then joins the women in a chorus and they unite in a tap break! Don't all secretaries tap around their type-writers? They're now joyfully singing their independence. We get one last reprise of the chorus theme in a triumphant end.

What a great song, a great show, and a fabulous evening :)
*sigh*