A TALENTED cast, headed by Coronation Street and Emmerdale’s Hayley Tamaddon, throw themselves into countless song and dance routines to bring out the best in nostalgic musical comedy Thoroughly Modern Millie.

The show, based on the 1967 film starring Julie Andrews, is set in 1920s New York where modern-thinking Millie, a new arrival from Kansas, plans to get a job and marry her boss.

Modern it is not, and the lightweight romantic story and far-fetched sub plot are predictable. These could have been brought more up-to-date to complement the new music by Jeanine Tesori and lyrics by Dick Scanlan which augment the book by Richard Morris and Scanlan.

Millie (the bubbly Tamaddon) resides in a hotel whose ‘landlady’ Mrs Meers (Lucas Rush) is actually a vile man selling female guests as while slaves. Despite the stereotryping, Rush milks the laughs with his false Chinese accent. Richard Meek is even funnier when drunk as Millie’s heart-broken boss.

Michael Colbourne shines as Millie’s true love Jimmy Smith, and Lisa Bridge is dazzling as Millie’s friend Dorothy. Excellent support from Nicola Blackman (jazz singer Muzzy), and Guy Salim and Patrick Jeremy, as Chinese brothers, help director Racky Plews achieve a feelgood factor.