Thoroughly Modern Millie

Image Source: Sheet Music Plus

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Format: Musical
Genre: Comedy
Date: February 20 2017
Location: Liverpool Empire Theatre

Originally a 1967 movie which hit Broadway in musical form in 2002, Thoroughly Modern Millie is set in 1922 and tells the story of Millie Dillmount (Joanne Clifton), who comes to New York City with a dual goal: find a well-paying and well-respected job (bear in mind that this was a time when women were just starting to receive equal employment opportunities to men), and heading to the big city to find a suitable husband; although she tells her friends that she is going to marry her boss, regardless of who it is or where she finds him. To cover her time in NYC, she checks into the Hotel Priscilla but, unbeknownst to her or anybody else within her social circle, the hotel is run by Mrs Meers (Michelle Collins), who is also running a white slavery ring in Hong Kong, and uses the hotel as a way to find new workers.

Along the way, she manages to achieve her first aim by finding work in Sincere Trust and quickly decides that she wants to marry Trevor Graydon (Graham MacDuff), the manager of the big-business company. She also makes a new friend in Dorothy Brown (Katherine Glover), who checks into Hotel Priscilla and reaches a compromise with Millie for the two to share a room as well as the cost of rent. In the meantime, while Meers plots the next stages of her scheme alongside two shy laundry workers at the hotel (Ching Ho, played by Damian Buhagiar, and Bun Foo, played by Andy Yau), Millie keeps bumping into Jimmy Smith (Sam Barrett) - literally at first, by accidentally tripping him up in the street - who is seemingly an average New Yorker, but who soon makes it clear that he has feelings towards Millie. Things become complicated when the Millie-James romance becomes a love triangle of sorts, as well as the increasing influence of Mrs Meers, and the unexpected twists and turns which sees Trevor enter the romantic picture but, again, choosing another lady over Millie. The various plot strands come together for the conclusion, which wraps everything up in a logical and amusing fashion.

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Cats

Image Source: Zeal NYC

Written By: Mark Armstrong

Format: Musical
Genre: Musical
Date: July 11 2016
Location: Liverpool Empire Theatre

One of the most famous musicals across the globe, Cats has made its way into the Liverpool Empire Theatre. The reputation of the show, which dates back decades and is amongst the biggest theatre shows on Earth (a longtime prominence on Broadway), ensures that attendees are expecting something special. Fortunately, Cats came through by delivering a great experience with plenty of special effects and unique nuances, all of which ensured that this production was the cat's meow, as I will now explain in more depth.

Cats tells the story of a series of cats roaming the streets at night, when everybody is asleep and the feline animals are able to live a little; the creatures come out at night, you might say. But this is no ordinary night; tonight, it is the annual Jellicle Ball, whereby the cats come together for a celebration, during which one of the Jellicle cats will be lucky enough to be chosen for a "rebirth" of sorts. Along the way, we are introduced to many different cats (one of whom facially resembled Gareth Bale), each with a unique personality trait; there's Jennyanydots (Lucinda Shaw), the Old Gumble Cat, who generally lazes around and enjoys a good rest; there's The Rum Tum Tugger (Marcquelle Ward), who is the joker in the pack; and then there's Bustopher Jones (Greg Castiglioni) who enjoys eating and eating; you may say that he is a fat cat!

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