Thoroughly Modern Millie began as a retro movie and went on to a second incarnation as a retro stage musical. Its set in 1922, so as you expect from the title irony is a key.
Carrie VanDoren is wrapping up her career at Bloomington High School South with the title role. VanDoren said she "had a number of roles, but they've been the comic relief, the side kick. This is my first lead role in a musical"
In addition to this being her first lead role, there was also something else that was new. "I had to learn to tap dance. I'd done about every other kind of dance from ballet to pom' squad, but never tap. Fortunately, we had some tappers in the group and with their help, I'm now pretty confident."
Jack Sengelaub plays the male lead in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and like VanDoren it's a new role for him. "In the past, I've played character comic parts," he said. "In Carousel for instance, I played Mr. Snow."
Though VanDoren and Sengelaub both described the excitement of the new roles and experiences, they both had to point out that a couple of the actors for the show have really had to do something completely different. "Yes," said Sengelaub,"there are two sort of henchmen and they talk and sing entirely in Chinese. It's pretty amazing to hear how well they do with it."