rOcKS @ '9 to 5' — Page 4

oh i'm glad!!

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I've had a very rough couple of weeks, but 9 TO 5 certainly lifted my spirits and put a smile on my face! It was such a feel-good musical. Dolly Parton's score and lyrics made me so happy...and some of those lines in the book to the show were truly HILARIOUS. I can't praise this show enough. You will definitely leave the show in a great mood!

This will absolutely 100% be a hit show...there is no question about it. I am so happy for everyone involved...they all deserve it.

I saw this show in LA and it's already loads better than it was. I loved it in LA and now, I absolutely adore it.

I haven't seen Next to Normal in the current production, but I did see it at Second Stage. I thought it was good, but not nearly as worthy of all the acclaim it's getting now. Perhaps it's much improved since Second Stage, but I still think 9 to 5 has a shot at many Tony's.

First of all, the song changes are better for the most part. I saw it early in the LA run, so I don't recall the exact names of the songs, but thank god "Mundania" is gone. I thought Hart's new song was loads better, although I still feel that the best material goes to the girls overall.

Perhaps it was just me, but I felt like, in LA, Allison Janney's part was played up and she stole the show and ran away with it in LA. Now, even though she still steals the show, it seems like the show is attempting to set the stage for Block and Hilty to get the Tony noms. I think all three of those ladies deserve Tony's for what they do in this show though and I wouldn't be surprised to see any of them get nominated or win.

Kudos to Megan Hilty. One of my pet peeves is people who lose their accents while they sing. She kept it flawlessly for the whole show. I'm not the biggest fan of country music as a whole which is why I didn't love "Backwoods Barbie" but Hilty's acting is excellent. The audience was eating up Hilty the entire night.

Sidebar: Dolly did a great job with the score of appealing to all people and not just fans of country music, which could be a misconception about a musical by Dolly Parton. It has such a feel good score!

I think Stephanie Block (who was great in LA) has really found all the laughs in her character now. She's phenomenal and absolute perfection as Judy and vocally, she is ridiculous. I don't really have a bad thing to say about her.

Kudisch was much funnier here than in LA. He had better material to work with and he really overemphasized the chauvinistic pic that is Hart and it really worked in the scheme of the show.

Allison Janney is perfection. Even though she's not a singer by nature, she sounded beautiful with ANdy Karl and actually sounded quite good in all her songs. "One of the Boys" and her part of the dream sequence are highlights for me.

Andy Karl having a song made my little heart so happy. And he sounded great with Allison. He's very endearing in his role. As is Kathy Fitzgerald who took Roz to an even more humorous level than in LA.

I also just want to give points to the ensemble. The choreography here is great (no surprise coming from Andy) and the ensemble, as a whole, is full of excellent dancers who make all the choreography so crisp and enjoyable to watch. The sets are so efficient and smooth moving and besides that one little "the scenery fell from the sky" moment, there were really no technical issues. I totally forgot about the elevator not working!

The score is strong, full of catchy tunes. I actually liked the original song that S.J.B. sang at hte copier, and I'm also sad they took out Ann Harada's song because I really like that song, but the song changes as a whole were strong, intelligent choices. "Shine Like the Sun" is a distinct stand out for me, I think it's such a great act one closer and I can't wait for the music to be recorded!

This was written at 3:30 in the morning, so I apologize if it wasn't entirely coherent.

Having been to quite a few first previews, I will say that this one was very smooth. It started on time and save for a rather long intermission, went smoothly. If this show is this strong at its first preview, I can't wait to see what it looks like on opening night.

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Updated On: 4/8/09 at 03:33 AM

Who are the new cast members?

Updated On: 4/8/09 at 05:51 AM

"And when did megan say lets take the stairs"

When they were going back to Violet's place to smoke the pot.

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Also, is there a booth where you can pre-order the OBCR?

And I still have 0 interest.

Glad you all enjoyed it.

Most likely it will be nominated for the TONYS along with BILLY ELLIOT, NEXT TO NORMAL and hopefully [title of the show] I would be shocked if ROCK OF AGES takes its place, instead of [tos] but we still dont know how N2N's reviews...

J*

Updated On: 4/8/09 at 09:01 AM

carymetorent2, what did your friends think of the rush seats?

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Re merchandise: they were selling like crazy at intermission. So far only the windowcard (which they nearly sold out of), some t-shirts that had quotes from the show on them (like the egotistical bigot line), and then some Dolly stuff - her new CD and some signed photos. Also a coffee mug and a baseball cap. There was no pre-order form for the OBCR, but I wouldn't be surprised if there is one tonight, the cast recording will sell like hotcakes.

Intermission ran 22 minutes instead of the advertised 15 which was due to the huge queue for the single merch booth. Hopefully by tonight they'll have a smaller booth in the mezz foyer as well.

Also, whose idea was to put a theatre in the middle of a hotel?

Well, they're stupid. The theatre is so confusing to get to. There is next to no signage, and I found myself asking every available employee of the Mariott for directions.

"I am glad everyone liked it who was there last night, it seems like every season we all have one guilt pleasure that we all love, last season was Xanadu and this year it seems to be "9 to 5.""

I don't really think that's an accurate comparison at all. Xanadu was all fun and no substance. 9 to 5 has many more merits as a show than Xanadu did, and honestly, there's nothing to feel guilty about for me.