Reaction Paper: Thoroughly Modern Millie, a MusicalAs an introduction, it may be observed that the milieu of contemporary appreciation to the arts typifies the rediscovery of art forms in the past, from which the 21st century artists tends to revive the richness and ingenuity of an art from a certain period of civilization. Thus, it can be exemplified by the very engaging story ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ by Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan in 2002 which was a remake of the same theatrical production way back in 1922, and evolved in various presentations from a movie to a musical show.This reaction paper aims to provide insightful appreciation in the recreation of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ as a musical show of Broadway in New York, relating how the contemporary “feel” to the presentation depicts post-modernism and expressionism according to the audience’s level of understanding.
For the purposes of this study, the Broadway musical of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ will be analyzed. It can be said that the play has a contemporary feel to it, in varying levels, and a use of post-modernism with expressionism were observable from the play. Thus the succeeding discussions will first expound the synopsis of the musical show, and analyzing the details to relate the hypothetical question: “Is the play a contemporary piece?”Based on the 2009 electronic archive of Music Theatre International (MTI), ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ is a musical play that is set in New York City during the 1900s towards 1922. Accordingly, a young lady named Millie Dillmount just moved to the city from Kansas in search of a better life.
This was the time when women were starting to enter the workforce, and Millie is a representation of the women who took courage and tried the fulfillment and rewards out of working. Along the way, Millie has experienced difficulties while adapting in the city, wherein her determination seemed undergoing an acid test when she was robbed of personal valuables upon setting-foot in New York. Despite the bad experience in unfamiliar place, Millie decided to stay in the city, and tore her returned ticket.She struggled employing for a job as a secretary and eventually took advantage of marrying her wealthy boss.
However, her plan was not simple because she happened to live in a hotel that has illegal activities on White Slavery. Additionally, it seemed like her boss does not intend to marry her. The overall plot of the story evolve in a complicated situation of life experiences, in which circumstantial to the setting was Millie’s unexpected falling in love with a paper clip salesman—Jimmy. At one setting of story, Millie discovered the hotel’s illegal activities where she was held witness by the law enforcers against the perpetrators.
Then at the final twist, Millie got married Jimmy who was nobody paper clip salesman, but turned out as an heir of a wealth family.Reflective of the story, the setting was in the 1920s which the plot portrays the meekness or submissiveness in the character of women. On the other hand, women in the 1920s can be also observed with gradual ascendancy to social consciousness, of which women workers regain recognition in the workforce surrounded by men. Likewise, women have played a vital role in the society of men, exemplifying Millie’s awareness and understanding her life experiences.
After the symbolism has been identified, the way where it is applied through a musical will be analyzed. ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ is indeed a contemporary piece because it is a continuing depiction in the character of women. This argument can be corroborated by the normative claim of Shelley Essak’s electronic article “what is Contemporary Art?’ which was published by About.Com in 2003.
As cited, many empirical study-researches define contemporary art as a continuing creation of a lifetime (1).Further, “lifetime” would also mean evolving genre where art is found and integrated within the “social norms” of people in a certain period, like the recreation of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ in the 1960s which was claimed as a contemporary piece of art in that period. In which case, the remake as a Broadway musical presentation in 2002 connotes contemporary appreciation in a post-modern period.Today, contemporary women manifest the same life experience of Millie in a more complicated world that has been ushered by technological and industrial developments of the 21st century.
Correlating that, like Millie, contemporary women has created a new genre of adaptability from home, community, workplace and government functions, wherein many women have not only struggled for establishing “self-identity”, but identifying herself within the social context. Again, it can be pinpointed that Millie’s conservative character has greatly adjusted according to social norm, from which Millie’s secretarial job for being a stenographer has changed her outlooks or lifestyles. The musical play has largely detailed the seeming effect of social consciousness to Millie, like wearing bob-hairstyle, putting on sophisticated make up and a bright-colored lipstick. It shows that women of the 1900s, 1960s and at the present time evolve in the character of women.
Another point of positive reaction acknowledges the acceptance of women towards changed from inner-self and her physical environment. From this point, the YouTube.Com has featured ‘Gimme, Gimme’ media presentation on Millie’s, and presented the video clips described as follows:“Millie sang, “I’ve studied all the pictures, and magazines, and books. I memorized the subway maps to work…Manhattan, I’m prepared for you” (1).
It may be then perceived that professional women, like Millie, learned to adapt, and start to appreciate the things that really matter, correlating that ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ depicts the ideas of working women and continuously depicts contemporary piece of art.The play certainly used a combination of “Postmodernism and Expressionism”. As defined by Michael Harkavy (2006) in his ‘Expressionism’, the early 20-th century movement in art and literature is an expression of subjective feelings and emotions (1). Also, Postmodernism is an abstract, theoretical term which describes a sociological or cultural climate (1) The term “postmodernism” is coined by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924-1998) as “coming both before and after modernism, being the reverse side of it” (2).
For instance, the way the lines were sung were very much emotional and powerful, that at times, the exaggerations were not unusual. The performers simply put out what they felt in their roles and went on with much control in delivering their lines and singing their songs. It was also great that the actors were full-pledged professionals that the numbers did not seem “forced.”In conclusion, the style of production of ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ correlates that postmodernism was applicable because the styles of the costumes and make up, songs, dance numbers, and music essence were timeless.
One cannot simply put an exact time frame of how when it happened, except when one identifies when it was actually made. A person would think that it is a modern piece, and not something that happened decades ago. In most cases, one can still claim that ‘Thoroughly Modern Millie’ is a contemporary art form as it combines the expressionist and post-modernist style of art. Works CitedEssak, S.
2003. “What is Contemporary Art?”. About.com.
07 May 2009< http://arthistory.about.com/od/current_contemporary_art/f/what_is.htm>Harkavy, M.
D. 1996. “Expressionism”. Trident Press International, Ontario, Canada.
07 May 2009Music Theatre International (MTI). 2009. “Thoroughly Modern Millie”. 07 May 2009<http://www.
mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000242>YouTube.Com.
2009. “Gimme Gimme.”. 07 May 2009<en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thoroughly_Modern_Millie>
