Hello!  Hope you’ve joined me here from Life with the Retro-Moderns...enjoy!

While in NYC we had selected for our 8 PM show…9-to-5, the Musical.  It’s currently in previews at the Marquis Theatre, which only started on April 7th; so going to a show in previews, in my opinion is a true delight.  It’s so early in it’s stage life that the cast album hasn’t even been recorded yet.  Truth was that while PM JennStoc and myself had some mild concerns about the play being toooo campy or too weird turning such a great and funny iconic movie into a musical, we were completely blown away. 

In case you were unaware, the music for the musical was all written by the lovely and local fabulousness herself - Dolly Parton!  So we were very excited to see if she’d actually be able to pull off writing for a broadway musical.  We were wary.  We were proved wrong.  The songs are fun, fresh, honest and full of real words/real life (kinda the same reason I’m such a fan of Sondheim).  Plus, we were the first show in previews that got a welcome and hello direct from the woman herself (I’m just glad I was able to shoot the video above)...sensational start to a sensational show.

The musical is very true to the originial and sensational movie.  There are only a few storyline changes that only help the show along, and they are not bad changes at all.  However, almost every moment that the film lover enjoys is recreated in some fashion including: when Violet trys to steal the body from the morgue, the pot-induced dream sequences, the crazy contraption they create to keep their boss held hostage...just great and it all works!  The costumes will make any fan of the film happy and the set design was fun, innovative and very much like being on a trip into the film itself.  What they can do onstage is just phenomenal.

A couple points of note.  First, all the actors are sensational.  Allison Janney (yes, the Mom from Juno), plays Violet Newstead and she does so perfectly.  She’s a little weak in the singing and dancing department but her acting chops well make up for that.  The two additional female leads are sensational as well. Stephanie J. Block plays Judy Bernly and she’s apparently fresh from playing Elphaba from Wicked on Broadway.  True to the character and really good pipes.  The surprise performance from me came from Megan Hilty who played the Dolly Parton character, Mrs. Doralee Rhodes.  SENSATIONAL.  She must have spent so much time studying the character and hanging around Dolly herself that she picked up a lot of her speech patterns and feel.  It was like watching a young Dolly herself.  Just fantastic!  Also, some amazing performances from Marc Kudisch as everyone’s love-to-hate boss, yes, the lying-hypocritical biggot himself, Franklin Hart Jr. and Kathy Fitzgerald as Roz.  Just a well rounded cast. 

Second, I was impressed at how generous Dolly was at giving some of the other actors singing time.  It made the feel of the musical a labor of love since the entire cast could really shine throughout. 

Third, you’ll laugh...a lot.  You’ll also feel like walking out of that theatre and feeling like you can take over the world.  It’s such a “women-empowering” musical that I cannot wait to get the soundtrack whenever it’s released.  We’ve come a long way from 1979 (or thereabouts), and we stil have a long way to go.  9-to-5, the Musical will make you feel like starting a revolution in some high heels and heartfelt songs. 

I only hope this show has a long run...it’s well deserved.  GO SEE IT!!!!

out of 4.