SCHENECTADY — The Franklin family is on a long and exciting journey, and if they don’t quite make their final destination — Broadway — that’s OK. At least they’re enjoying the trip.

“They all want to be on Broadway,” said Lisa Franklin of her four children, two of whom will be performing on stage with her in the Schenectady Light Opera Company production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie” opening at 8 tonight and running through Oct. 12.

“If they have dreams, I think they should definitely go for it. I don’t think they should worry about having something they can fall back on. If you want something and you believe in yourself, you should do it.”

Franklin plays Muzzy Van Hossmere, one of Manhattan’s most celebrated songbirds from the 1920s. Her daughter Julia, meanwhile, a senior at the Academy of Holy Names, plays the lead, Millie Doumont, a small-town girl who comes to New York seeking her fame, fortune and a husband.

“I told Julia that would be the perfect role for her,” said Franklin, a Troy native who now lives in Loudonville with her husband, Paul, and their children. “She’s a bit on the young side, but I still think she’s perfect for the part.”

So did the hierarchy at SLOC. They selected Julia to play the lead and her mother to play Muzzy, while a younger brother, Charles, a junior at Shaker High, also got a singing and dancing part in the chorus.

“I really wasn’t sure when I auditioned, but I was ecstatic when I got the part,” said Julia Franklin. “I really like ‘Millie.’ ‘A Chorus Line’ is probably my favorite musical, but ‘Millie’ is in my top five. It’s a lot of fun.”

Longtime fan

Julia Franklin has been enjoying musicals for as long as she can remember. The oldest of the Franklin children, she performed on stage for the first time in the fourth grade in a Family Players (Colonie) production of “The King and I.”

That was back in 2001 after her mother had spent 11 years getting the family started and put her own theatrical aspirations on hold. Although she married her high school sweetheart (they both went to Tamarac), Lisa Franklin managed to get a degree in vocal performance from the Crane School of Music in Potsdam, studied opera at Wuerzburg, Germany, for four years, and then returned to the States, where she got a master’s degree in opera from University at Binghamton.

“Then I got married and took a break while I was having four kids,” said Lisa Franklin. “But I will go to New York for myself when the kids are grown up. I wouldn’t leave my children now, but as soon as they’re old enough I’ll be heading down for auditions. I still have my aspirations, too.”

Lisa Franklin and her four kids, including the two youngest (Emily is 12 and George is 8) all performed at the Mac-Haydn Theatre in Chatham this past summer in “High School Musical.” They previously appeared together at SLOC and have also performed on stage at the Cohoes Music Hall.

“It’s rare that I do a show without one of them now,” said Lisa Franklin, “and I’m much more nervous about the kids and how they’re going to do, especially at auditions. We’ve actually taken the kids to New York and auditioned there, and we’ve had a few call-backs for Broadway shows. Nothing’s hit yet, and it’s a nightmare waiting for those phone calls, but it’s also a lot of fun.”

“Thoroughly Modern Millie” is the 2002 Tony Award winner for Best Musical that was based on the 1967 movie with Julie Andrews. It won six Tonys in all, including Sutton Foster as Millie, and was nominated five more times.

“I saw the show in New York and I really loved the way it played on stage,” said Jeffrey Scott, who is directing the SLOC production. “I usually do darker stuff, but I do love the old classic musicals and I really do enjoy this play. It has a great message, and it’s a great dance musical with wonderful music. It’s a great way for SLOC to kick off its season.”

The productions Scott watched in New York were done on huge stages with a number of different elaborate sets. That isn’t the case at SLOC, where stage designer Duncan Morrison is keeping things simple.

“It’s incredible what they do in New York, but we don’t have that kind of budget. So I asked Duncan to keep it simple,” said Scott. “We decided on a uni-set, so it’s very little that changes. In my opinion, the story is good enough to stand on its own. It’s a big cast on our small stage. So the blocking was a little complicated, but I think we did a pretty good job.”

Scott was apprehensive heading into the audition process, fearful of getting too many kids in the cast.

“I was concerned about getting too many high school students,” he said. “I wanted an older cast, but we didn’t get them and ended up with a lot of high school kids and adults in their early twenties. But I’ll tell you, and this goes especially for Julia Franklin, the kids have really come through. I am very pleased with how things have turned out.”

Anticipating role

Franklin, who plans on majoring in musical theater next year but hasn’t yet decided on her college choice, expects to be a little bit nervous on opening night.

“I get really nervous when I’m not prepared, but I can tell you I will be prepared for this,” she said. “I’ll get a little nervous and a little anxious, but it will be a good nervous.”

Lisa Franklin, also a voice teacher who counts her four children among her pupils, said the family will be ready.

“We’ve been singing together for years, and we’re all really looking forward to this show,” she said. “We even get my husband involved sometimes in the chorus, but we can’t do that too often. In the past, we’ve had all five of us in five different shows, so my husband becomes our taxi driver. Sometimes, it got pretty challenging getting everyone to every show they were in.”