Students can often be heard commenting about the competitive nature of extracurricular organizations at the University -- after all, one can't even go on Alternative Spring Break without going through an application process. And musical theatre is no exception.
This fall, about 90 first years auditioned for 22 coveted spots in the First Year Players' production of Thoroughly Modern Millie.
"It's interesting because FYP was started as a way for first-years to more easily get involved in shows since, in the University's productions, they would have to compete for parts against upper-class drama majors," said Modern Millie's director, third-year College student D.J. Lick. "But because FYP is such a well-known organization, we just had a really high turnout for auditions."
The process of choosing a director for each production can be a daunting task as well. Each semester, interested upper-class members of FYP pitch a presentation to an executive board, which then chooses the director/production it likes best. Essentially, potential directors must write a 10 to 15 page paper explaining why the board should pick their shows instead of any of the others.
Despite the tough audition processes, FYP still manages to cultivate a friendly, family-like community for all members.
"No matter what gets chosen, everyone sort of bands together to make it a great show," Lick said.
This fall, the board chose Thoroughly Modern Millie, a Tony award-winning musical loosely based on a 1967 film that only recently ended its highly successful run on Broadway.
The show revolves around the title character Millie Dillmount (first-year College student Emily Swan), a small-town girl from Kansas who arrives in New York City with big ambitions of marrying rich and living the decadent life of which she always dreamed. She stays in the Priscilla Hotel for Women under the helm of Mrs. Meers (first-year College student Katie Wall), a villainous landlord who conspires to sell her tenants into white slavery in a hilarious subplot. Contrary to Millie's plans, however, she falls in love with Jimmy Smith (first-year Engineering student Stephen Hatch), a poor but fun-loving paper-clip salesman.
Certain aspects of Thoroughly Modern Millie created some unique challenges for the cast and crew. Two characters speak fluent Mandarin Chinese while on stage, and the show calls for 12 different sets compared to an average of two or three for most other shows.
"We only cast one actor that was actually fluent in Chinese -- she [first-year Architecture student Pearl Ho] then worked with [first-year College student Kevin Brown] constantly to teach him how to say his lines," Lick said.
Additionally, the majority of Thoroughly Modern Millie's choreography is tap dancing. Trained tap dancers are generally few and far between on a college campus.
"We were worried because tap is a very specific style [of dance], but we were lucky enough to find seven girls who can tap like nobody's business," Lick said.
Because Thoroughly Modern Millie is a relatively recent production, the show involves much more complicated technology than an average student show. The sets are extremely elaborate, and the scenes with Mandarin Chinese require subtitles to be projected on stage. Although Millie's modernism created some extra challenges for FYP, the production's cast and crew hope its recentness will help the show reach a wide spectrum of audiences.
"I wanted to do this show ... [because] it's fun, it's new, it's kitschy, it's light and it appeals to a young audience," Lick said. "But at the same time, since it's based on an older movie, hopefully it will draw a wide audience and help open [FYP] up to a broader community as well."
You can see Thoroughly Modern Millie Oct. 25 to 28, from 8 to 10 p.m. at the Student Activities Building.
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