Character guide
Miss Dorothy Brown
Miss Dorothy Brown is Millie's sweet, sheltered friend in Thoroughly Modern Millie, a young woman whose genteel upbringing sets her apart from the fast-paced city around her.
- Show
- Thoroughly Modern Millie
- Broadway premiere
- 2002
- Role
- Supporting
- Music by
- Jeanine Tesori
Miss Dorothy Brown: from the film to Broadway
Broadway compared with the 1967 film
Angela Christian originated Miss Dorothy on Broadway in 2002; Mary Tyler Moore played her in the 1967 film. Her romantic ending is the biggest change. In the film, Miss Dorothy falls for Millie's boss, Trevor Graydon, and marries him. The musical pairs her instead with Ching Ho, one of Mrs. Meers's henchmen, leaving Trevor dismayed.
On stage Miss Dorothy also turns out to be Jimmy's sister, an heiress named Dorothy Carnegie Mellon Vanderbilt van Hossmere, who had hidden her identity to avoid fortune hunters.
Who is Miss Dorothy Brown?
Dorothy comes from a comfortable, refined background very different from Millie's more practical, working-class outlook, and the contrast between the two friends adds warmth and comic texture to the story. Despite her privileged upbringing, Dorothy proves kind, brave, and more resourceful than she first appears once she is swept into the musical's escalating plot.
Her friendship with Millie becomes one of the show's most endearing relationships, grounding the fast-paced comedy in genuine loyalty between the two young women.
Playing Dorothy on stage
Dorothy is a supporting role that calls for a sweet, legitimate soprano voice and a gentle, earnest stage presence to contrast with Millie's brasher energy. The part rewards a performer who can find comedy in innocence without ever making the character feel merely naive.
Audiences respond to Dorothy because she represents genuine warmth amid the show's whirlwind of scheming and mistaken identities, and the character offers a lovely vocal and dramatic counterpoint to the show's flashier leading roles.
Miss Dorothy Brown: frequently asked questions
What show is Miss Dorothy Brown from?
Miss Dorothy Brown appears in Thoroughly Modern Millie, the 2002 Broadway musical with music by Jeanine Tesori.
Is Miss Dorothy Brown a lead or supporting role?
Dorothy is a supporting role and Millie's close friend within the story.
Who wrote the music for Thoroughly Modern Millie?
Jeanine Tesori wrote the music for the show.
Think you can name today's mystery character in eight guesses?
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Thoroughly Modern Millie show guideMusical theatre characters A to Z