Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Review: 9 to 5

Dolly Parton Music Transitions Popular Movie to Broadway
By Lauren Yarger
To create yet another movie-turned-Broadway-musical, country music star Dolly Parton pens songs and lyrics to repackage the 1980 big-screen hit 9 to 5 (in which she starred with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) into a staged musical running at the Marquis Theatre.

Fans of the movie should enjoy. Most of the plot involving three secretaries who kidnap their sexist boss and take over during his absence to improve working conditions at their corporation is there, as well as 16 songs added to the 9 to 5 theme song Parton had written for the movie.

The tunes unfortunately don’t stand out (though they benefit from some terrific orchestrations by Bruce Coughlin and Musical Director Stephen Oremus) and the lyrics are simple by Broadway standards, but the show’s stars, directed by Joe Mantello, pack enough punch to carry the engaging story (book by Patricia Resnick, who wrote the movie screenplay). There are a few changes from movie to stage, some for no apparent reason, but the overall package is there.

Megan Hilty plays Doralee, the buxom secretary whom everyone thinks is having an affair with the boss, Franklin Hart, Jr. (Marc Kudish). She looks and sounds so much like a younger Parton, it’s scary. Stephanie J. Block lends her lovely singing voice (and gets a really great belting number) in the role of Judy, the newly divorced woman with no work experience. She is taken under the wing of seasoned secretary Violet (Allison Janney, who doesn’t have a Broadway belt, but who holds her own and recently won the Drama Desk award for best actress in a musical) who keeps getting passed over for promotions by the men she trains.

During a pot party, the women fantasize about getting even with the unfair, demeaning Hart and in a bizarre set of circumstances that follow, their fantasies become reality when Violet accidently poisons his coffee. Hart discovers the attempt and threatens to have them arrested. The women react by kidnapping him and keeping him tied up in his house until they can find incriminating evidence of his illegal business transactions with which to bargain for their freedom.

Meanwhile, with Violet’s business know-how, Judy’s availability to babysit the kidnap victim at night and Doralee’s talent for forging Hart’s signature, the three transform their workplace into a productive environment and manage to keep Hart devotee Roz (Kathy Fitzgerald) at bay. Violet even has time to develop a romantic attachment with one of the corporation’s junior accountants, Joe (Andy Karl).

Scott Pask’s set pieces neatly swing and glide into place and a smoking, spitting copier is quite amusing. Andy Blankenbuehler adds some snappy choreography and William Ivey Long designs the costumes.

9 to 5 isn’t up there with the best musicals ever to grace a Broadway stage, but it’s not one of the worst to make the jump from screen either. It’s a fun, entertaining piece of theater.

9 to 5 plays at the Marquis, 1535 Broadway, NYC through Sept. 6. For tickets, call (212) 307-4100/(800) 755-4000. For special group rates, click here.

Christians might also like to know:
• Drug use depicted
• God’s name taken in vain
• Sexually suggestive dialogue and lyrics
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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

Copyright

All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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