"not for the life of me" from thoroughly modern millie

In honor of the fact that Ladams and I saw Thoroughly Modern Millie in Indy this evening, I have decided to blog something from the show. I must also add, thar we got free tickets in the CENTER orchestra in the EIGHTH row, and FREE parking. It was a lovely evening. Anyway...
"Not For The Life Of Me" is the big opener in the show. Millie has just moved to New York from Kansas, and is trying to figure out how to survive in the big city.
This piece is cool because it has a very swingy, jazzy feeling to it. It starts out with Millie singing very timidly, and the orchestra plays lightly under her. There are lots of chromatic notes in the vocal line, and you can already feel the bluesy harmonies. At the end of this introductory section, there is a common tone modulation, and there is a huge change in structural phenomena. There is a change in tonality with the key change, the tempo picks up to a "hot dixieland" feel, and the texture changes when all of the instruments come in. The orchestra takes on the sound of a dixieland band, and it becomes a big dancy number. The brass instruments really stand out playing a very swingy, jazzy, big band like line. The vocal line adds to the dance like feel with its jazzy melody.
A little over halfway through the piece, there is a big dance break, and the orchestra really gets to bust it out. There are cymbal crashes and other cool things happening in the percussion section that make the music very energized, and perfect for a dance break. They get to play at Forte the whole time. When Millie and the chorus come back in, it stays forte, and is just huge and in your face until the end.
Such a fun show!!!! Glad I got to see it again.