Brief Synopsis -- Detailed Synopsis -- Songs and Scenes
A girl straight from Kansas, Millie Dillmount comes to New York City hoping to become a modern girl. But on her first day, she discovers that The Big Apple is not the friendliest city in the world. Taking the advice of a rude stranger, whose name she later learns is Jimmy Smith, Millie goes to the Hotel Priscilla, a home for struggling actresses, where they're "used to girls who don't pay the rent." Pushed by the hotel owner, Mrs. Meers, to pay her far overdue rent, she makes friends with a wealthy yet naive girl named Miss Dorothy Brown. Miss Dorothy wishes to start life from scratch and learn to live without luxuries. Millie reveals to Miss Dorothy her own plans to be modern by marrying her boss...when she finally gets a job where her boss is unmarried. Finally, she finds employment under the handsome Trevor Graydon III. Unfortunately, she finds herself falling in love with Jimmy Smith, and torn between her love and her modernity, she seeks help from the famous singer Muzzy Van Hossmere. After a helpful hint from Muzzy, she concludes that love is the most important thing and ends up happily with Jimmy.
Manhattan, 1922. Millie Dillmount steps of the train from Salina, Kansas (Not for the Life of Me). Surrounded by a throng of fabulous flappers, Millie's a fish out of water, until she bobs her hair and sheds her Sunday best for a higher hemline and a hotter look (Thoroughly Modern Millie). As the number ends, Millie is mugged. She seeks help from Jimmy Smith, but all he provides is unsolicited advice for her to make a U-turn and return home (Not for the Life of Me (reprise)). A week passes, and we're at the Hotel Priscilla, where a bevy of stagestruck hopefuls are starting their day. Enter Miss Dorothy, and she and MIllie quickly proves that opposites attract (How the Other Half Lives). Meanwhile, in the laundry room, Mrs. Meers, the owner of the hotel, plots to kidnap Miss Dorothy. Why? Mrs. Meers runs a white slavery ring, targeting orphans whose sudden disappearancegoes unnoticed, and Miss Dorothy fits the bill. Mrs. Meers barks instructions at her immigrant henchmen, Ching Ho and Bun Foo. The two brothers quarrel over Ching Ho's crisis of conscience, but Bun Foo reminds him that crime is the only career that pays well enough for them to bring their mother over from Hong Kong (Not for the Life of Me (reprise)). Later that afternoon, Millie begins her job hunt, or rather husband hunt: Millie's "modern" plan is to find work as a stenog to an eligible bachelor and wind up his wife. On her list of potential bosses/hubbies is Trevor Graydon III at the Sincere Trust Insurance Company (The Speed Test). Back at the hotel, Mrs. Meers tries to dope Miss Dorothy with a posioned apple, but is repeatedly interrupted (They Don't Know). Millie takes the Priscilla girls out on the town to celebrate her new job, and she runs into Jimmy Smith. He gets them into a speakeasy, and though Millie is initially standoffish, they eventually join in a dance (The Nuttycracker Suite). By the time they are raided and land in jail, Jimmy reconsiders his assessment of Millie (What Do I Need With Love?). Jimmy asks Millie to a Yankees game, but she reveals her plan to marry her boss. Saving face, Jimmy pretends that his interest is platonic, suggesting that she bring Miss Dorothy. A trio is formed for nightly excursions to Coney Island, Central Park, and the glamorous penthouse of Mussy Van Hossmere, Manhattan's most celebrated chanteuse (Only in New York). Later that night, on Muzzy's terrace, Jimmy needles Millie about her plan to marry a man who thinks of her as "a typewriter on legs." Their quarrel escalates until, unable to control himself, Jimmy kisses Millie passionately. He exits in a panic, leaving her alone to sort out her feelings (Jimmy). She returns to the Hotel Priscilla in a state of bliss, which is quickly shattered when she sees Jimmy sneaking out of Miss Dorothy's room after what appears to be a late-night tryst.
Act Two
The next morning, Millie is miserable (Back at Work). She wills herself into wasting no more time on Jimmy Smith (Forget About the Boy). Instead, she redoubles her efforts to seduce Mr. Graydon, until Miss Dorothy drops by and the two are immediately smitten (Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life/I'm Falling In Love With Someone). Jimmy appears on the window ledge outside of Millie's office, where he declares his feelings for her (I Turned the Corner). Millie, too, is falling in love, as are Mr. Graydon, Miss Dorothy, and Ching Ho, whose heart has belonged to Miss Dorothy since the moment they met (I'm Falling in Love With Someone (quartet)). Meanwhile, Mrs. Meers is more determined than ever to get Miss Dorothy. Ching Ho tries to stop her, but she reminds him of her promise to import their elderly, ailing mother in exchange for their evildoings (Muqin). Millie and Jimmy go to Cafe Society to hear Muzzy sing (Long As I'm Here with You), but they can't pay the bill so they are put on dishwashing duty. Millie realizes that the unemployed Jimmy is as far from her plan to marry well as a girl can get, so she flees the kitchen and heads to Muzzy's dressing room for some sound advice. Muzzy explains that though she herself married a multi-millionaire, she had no idea he was rich until after their engagement, when a green glass brooch he gave her turned out the be emeralds. Muzzy leaves Millie alone in the dressing room to mull over her advice (Gimme Gimme). Mr. Graydon shows up at Cafe Society in a drunken stupor: Miss Dorothy has checked out of the Hotel Priscilla with no forwarding address. Putting their heads together, Millie, Jimmy, and Mr. Graydon realize that Mrs. Meers must be running a white slavery ring. They corral Muzzy into checking in as a new-orphan-in-town. Mrs. Meers takes the bait and is exposed as the mastermind criminal she is. With Mrs. Meers out of the way, Miss Dorothy is revealed in Ching Ho's arms: he rescued her from an unspeakable fate and won her heart in the bargain. Jimmy proposes to Millie, and, poor as he is, she accepts, "because if it's marriage I've got in mind, love has everything to do with it." Jimmy reveals himself to be Herbert J. Van Hossmere III--Muzzy's stepson, Miss Dorothy's brother, and one of the most eligible bachelors in the world. The two couples kiss as a throng of fabulous flappers appears. Through them walks another girl from nowhere, ready to take her chances in the never-ending tale that is New York City (Finale).
Songs and Scenes
Overture............Orchestra
Scene 1: A New York City street
"Not for the Life of Me"............Millie
"Thoroughly Modern Millie"............Millie and Ensemble
Scene 2: The Hotel Priscilla lobby
"Not for the Life of Me" (Reprise).............Ruth, Gloria, Rita, Alice, Cora, and Lucille
"How the Other Half Lives"............Miss Dorothy and Millie
Scene 3: The laundry room of the Priscilla
"Not for the Life of Me" (Reprise)............Ching Ho and Bun Foo
Scene 4: The Sincere Trust Insurance Co.
"The Speed Test"............Mr. Graydon, Millie, Miss Flannery, and Office Workers
Scene 5: The 12th floor of the Priscilla
"They Don't Know"............Mrs. Meers
Scene 6: A New York City street
Scene 7: The Tie-One-On Club
"The Nuttycracker Suite"............Millie, Miss Dorothy, Jimmy, Gloria, Alice, Ruth, and Speakeasy Patrons
Scene 8: A jail
"What Do I Need With Love?"............Jimmy
Scene 9: The 12th floor of the Priscilla
Scene 10: Muzzy's Penthouse
"Only in New York"............Muzzy
Scene 11: The penthouse terrace
"Jimmy"............Millie
Scene 12: The 12th floor of the Priscilla
Act Two
Entr'acte............Orchestra
Scene 1: The Sincere Trust Insurance Co.
"Forget About the Boy"............Millie, Miss Flannery, and Typists
"I'm Falling in Love With Someone"............Mr. Graydon and Miss Dorothy
Scene 2: The window ledge
"I Turned the Corner"............Jimmy and Millie
"I'm Falling in Love With Someone" (Quartet)............Jimmy, Millie, Mr. Graydon and Miss Dorothy
Scene 3: The 12th floor of the Priscilla
"Muqin"............Mrs. Meers, Ching Ho, and Bun Foo
Scene 4: The floor show and kitchen at Cafe Society
"Long as I'm Here With You"............Muzzy, Millie, and Ensemble
Scene 5: Muzzy's dressing room at Cafe Society
"Gimme Gimme"............Millie
Scene 6: The dining room at Cafe Society
Scene 7: The Hotel Priscilla lobby
Scene 8: The laundry room of the Priscilla
"The Speed Test" (Reprise)............Millie, Mr. Graydon, Jimmy, and Muzzy
Finale:
"Thoroughly Modern Millie"............Jimmy, Miss Dorothy, and Moderns
