Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002 Original Broadway Cast)  (Audio CD) 
by Jeanine Tesori

Although it's based on the 1967 movie of the same name, Thoroughly Modern Millie is almost thoroughly new. Composer Jeanine Tesori (Violet) and lyricist Dick Scanlan wrote a whole batch of songs, while retaining a couple from the movie--including the Jimmy van Heusen-Sammy Cahn title tune--and recycling even older material (look for Victor Herbert's "I'm Falling in Love with Someone" and the inventively arranged "Nuttycracker Suite"). Miraculously, the show, set during the jazz age, doesn't feel stitched together, and Tesori does a great job cranking out swinging melodies. Sutton Foster is appropriately brassy as Millie, but she can also tone it down, as in the beginning of "Gimme Gimme" (of course, she then proceeds to project up to the last rafters as the song builds to its climax). Harriet Harris, as nasty Mrs. Meers, steals the show with "They Don't Know." Close your eyes, listen to her, and you'll be back in Broadway's golden age. --Elisabeth Vincentelli