Students bring Big Apple to city
A LOVE story played out on the streets of New York will be portrayed by some of Ipswich's brightest acting talents next week.
Students from Ipswich Girls and Boys Grammar are entering the final rehearsals for their production of Thoroughly Modern Millie before taking the stage for three performances from May 10.
The Ipswich Girls' Grammar Mervyn Patterson Assembly Hall will resemble the bustling Big Apple as it was in the 1920s.
The story centres on Millie Dillmount, played by Rebekah Barns, who moves from her hometown to New York looking to marry for money instead of love.
IGGS head music teacher Lucy Ferrara, part of the production team leading the musical's rehearsals, said the cast was gelling nicely as it prepared for crowds of more than 600 people each night.
"They are actually starting to get a little bit excited. They're getting into their costumes and they are starting to get pumped up, and it's getting very exciting," she said.
Upon Millie's arrival in the big smoke she is mugged in New York's mean streets and meets a poor Jimmy Smith, played by James Harrigan, who warns her of the dangers of life in the big city.
The pair eventually decides to move in together, splitting the rent, and their relationships grows.
Ms Ferrara said the story had some comical moments amidst the two lead characters plotting and scheming.
"The play is a sort of boy meets girl with a comical aspect to it. She goes to the big city because she wants to marry someone rich."
The set and props have thrown the students into a foreign world.
"The different costumes and the different sets and utilising phones and typewriters, all the kind of stuff they are not used to. It's been quite interesting," Ms Ferrara said.
To book tickets for the performances on May 10, 11 and 12, visit iggs.qld.edu.au.
