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Saturday, July 5, 2014

COME SEE “THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE” IN BASKING RIDGE PARK

Light Opera of New Jersey

presents

THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE
Book by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon
New Music by Jeanine Tesori
New Lyrics by Dick Scanlon
Original Story and Screenplay by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlon for the Universal Pictures Film.

WHEN: July 10, 11, 12 and July 17, 18, 19 8 PM
WHERE:
Pleasant Valley Park, Valley Road, Basking Ridge (bring a chair, blanket, picnic and the whole family)
ADMISSION: FREE (donations gratefully accepted)
For more information go to  www.lightoperaofnewjersey.com

The Tony Award-winning Best Musical Thoroughly Modern Millie is the charming story of Millie Dillmont, a small-town Kansas girl who comes to New York in the 1920's to become the truly modern woman of her time—and snag a wealthy beau. The show will be brought to life this summer in Pleasant Valley Park as part of the Plays in the Park program which is FREE to the public.

This production teems with song and dance, as the energetic Millie transforms herself and her friends at work, outsmarts her scheming Hotel Priscilla proprietress and finds true love!

The young Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award winner Lindsay Dunn (left) plays Millie. Catie Shelley is her new best friend Dorothy, Scott Hart is the wealthy boss Trevor Graydon, Dan Mango is her young friend Jimmy Smith, who just might derail her quest for a wealthy mate. Beth Gleason is the conniving hotel madam, Mrs. Meers. Changkuo Hsieh and Ed Wang, as diabolical Chinese cohorts of Mrs. Meers, create comic chaos that's sure to please.

Lively friends and coworkers round out the cast, including Anthony Alberti, Elena Bird, Angie Cocuzza, Sophie Dewil, Sophia Donelan, Lauren Farnell, Michael Giangreco, Zack Halko, Joanna Hoty Russell, Jessica Idell, Patricia Idell, Samantha Kaplan, Debbie Lingel, Ethan Lynch, Sarah Matsushima, Eric Roper, Will Roper, Ted Roper, Paula Roper, Emily Vaias and Grace Van Cleef.

The musical premiered on Broadway in 2002 and received six Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and five Drama Desk Awards. For this summer's show, Plays in the Park Executive Producer Lorrie Lane teams up with Light Opera of New Jersey to produce the show.

The show is directed by Bill Corson, with musical direction by Clifford Parrish and choreography by Jill Cookingham.

The cast of Thoroughly Modern Millie, who hail from towns across New Jersey including Basking Ridge, Berkley Heights, Chester, Gillette, Hopewell, Long Valley, Madison, Martinsville, Morristown, New Providence, Parsippany, Randolph, South Plainfield, Wallington, Wharton and Whippany, as well as Staten Island, NY, will delight audiences with their quick changes, even quicker tapping, delightful songs and hilarious antics.  

Thoroughly Modern Millie is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI. 421 West 54th St., NY,NY 10019.

Plays in the Park program is made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and administered by the Somerset County Cultural and Heritage Commission through the State/County Partnership Local Arts Program