Thoughts on 9 TO 5?

I'm about a week out from opening night of a community theatre production of 9 to 5, and I was wondering what the thoughts on this board were about the show.

I was unfamiliar with the movie when I auditioned, and only ever watched it the day before rehearsals began. It makes a lot of sense to want to turn it into a musical, not just because of the Dolly Parton connection, but because the movie, while funny and well-acted, has all of the substance of a sitcom episode. Adding songs allows the musical to fill out the characters and settings in a way the movie couldn't.

And, of, course, this is Dolly Parton, so the songs are all good and really allow her to showcase her range as a songwriter, going from classic country ("Backwoods Barbie" to musical style parodies ("Potion Notion", "One of the Boys" to going full-on Sondheim with "Change It", a song that's a bastard to put together but sounds amazing when all the pieces fall into place.

Listening to the Broadway Cast recording, Allison Janney and Stephanie J. Block are perfectly cast, and it would have been something really cool to see them perform their roles on Broadway.

I saw the tour, that had a video screen of Dolly come down from the rafters and act as like a narrator of sorts. It was an enjoyable afternoon in the theatre. Dee Hoty was great, as was Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris. Personally, I have always loved the score, and listen to it quite frequently. The songs are fantastic.

It's cotton candy, which is fun to have every once in a while.

Updated On: 1/17/23 at 09:55 AM

I also saw the tour and enjoyed it. It's mindless and harmless fun, plus it has some fun tunes.

fashionguru_23 said: "I saw the tour, that had a video screen of Dolly come down from the rafters and act as like a narrator of sorts. It was an enjoyable afternoon in the theatre. Dee Hoty was great, as was Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris. Personally, I have always loved the score, and listen to it quite frequently. The songs are fantastic.

It's cotton candy, which is fun to have every once in a while."

Our production has one of those, too. We have a big clock that lowers from the ceiling to serve as a projection screen for Dolly's narration.

KevinKlawitter said: "fashionguru_23 said: "I saw the tour, that had a video screen of Dolly come down from the rafters and act as like a narrator of sorts. It was an enjoyable afternoon in the theatre. Dee Hoty was great, as was Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris. Personally, I have always loved the score, and listen to it quite frequently. The songs are fantastic.

It's cotton candy, which is fun to have every once in a while."

Our production has one of those, too. We have a big clock that lowers from the ceiling to serve as a projection screen for Dolly's narration."



The Gateway production also had the clock/projection sctrrn. The sound was scratchy andcthe projrction was blurry.

jacobsnchz14 said: "I have followed the show's development since Dolly's demos of the new songs, through the LA tryout, Broadway, tour, then UK. It's definitely a fun musical that found success post-Broadway with a new design team and direction. I would be curious to how the show would have been received were it opening fresh through the industry movements with #MeToo, etc.

Even through London and the UK tour, the writing team (whether it was Dolly or mostly Stephen Oremus ghostwriting, etc. or whatever the rumors are/were) have still been tinkering with the fantasy sequence musical number(s) which have continued to change.

I enjoy hearing Dolly on the recent West End live cast recording and return to the original Broadway cast recording often. Some of the OBC members were interviewed for an upcoming documentary about the original film's impact."

Have the changes, particularly from the West End production, ever been detailed?

I've always found the show a curious one. The book has a sharp, ironic edge to it while the score is all heart. And that mismatch has never worked for me, but made me wish Dolly had lent her talents to something more outwardly sentimental.