When I saw the Ritenour musical, “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” on Thursday, Feb. 20, I left with a smile on my face.

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” is a musical about a lady named Millie Dillmount (portrayed by junior Kelsey Degardin), who travels from Kansas to New York City to become an actress. Dillmount checks into a hotel that is run by Mrs. Meers (portrayed by senior Raina Norman), a white woman pretending to be Chinese and preying on people with no families by selling them into white slavery.

Regardless of the somewhat serious sounding plot, the musical was very funny and with non-stop jokes. I would give the musical a 9.5 out 10 in the comedy department. The actors did a great job keeping the musical funny and entertaining.

In the musical, there is a part of the story where Millie’s boss, Mr. Graydon (portrayed by senior John Rodenberg) wants to talk to Millie alone in his office. Millie wants to marry her boss, so she got a little flirty and messed with his tie.

Her lines in that part of the musical were funny and also dramatic. Her acting was great and her singing was flawless.

Of course every musical has a love story in between all of the songs and dances. Millie meets a man named Jimmy Smith (portrayed by freshman Isaiah Lewis) and they both made a pretty bad first impression when they met on the streets of New York. The two gradually become more passionate towards each other and they ultimately fall in love.

I would give the romance in this musical a 9 out of 10. Their acting showed that they really were in love. The couple showed compassion towards each other to make that part of the story complete.

For the musical aspect of the show I would give it a 10 out of 10. The chorus singers were great and the lead singers were even better.

The actors stayed with the beat of the music from the pit the whole time. They did an amazing job, and sounded like a great cast.

The dancing was also an impressive aspect of the performance. Several of the cast members noted that they were scared about the routines because of snow days and not seeing the choreographer as much as they would like. At the end of it all, the hard work and dedication towards the dance routines paid off.

The dancers were fantastic on stage and looked like they were having fun. They were enthusiastic when they did their dance routines. I think they did amazing job keeping up with the beat of the music.

Director, Dr. Richard Bell, always has a surprise moment during the last night of the show. This year, Bell appeared as the “new Millie” at the end of the show. This turned out to be a funny surprise and ended the musical on a good note!