Whenever a blockbuster movie is reimagined as a stage musical, the motives of its makers can be suspect. Do they think a stage version will add a new dimension to the legacy of an already beloved work? Or is it a cynical attempt to squeeze a few more bucks out of an existing, recognizable and easily marketed property?
But if one of the creators is Dolly Parton, a national treasure whose songwriting royalties alone could likely sustain a small country, one can reasonably conclude that the impetus is artistic, not a cash grab.
So when Parton’s recorded voice kicks off “9 to 5 – The Musical,” Riverside Theatre’s final production of its season and the musicalization of the 1980 movie “9 to 5,” in which she made her screen acting debut, we can surmise we’re in Dolly’s world for the next couple of hours.
Indeed, her movie character Doralee, here played winningly by Kathlynn Rodin, pretty much evolves by the end of the show into the country music star herself, as we’re told in Dolly’s bookending audio wrap-up.
In between, the musical, which ran on Broadway from April to September 2009, tracks the movie pretty much beat for beat.
Doralee is the longsuffering secretary to Franklin Hart Jr., the sexist boss who takes credit for everyone else’s work.
Violet Newstead, the super-efficient head of the secretarial pool played by Lily Tomlin in the movie, largely keeps things running at Consolidated Industries, the corporate world of the show.
Judy Bernly, the Jane Fonda role, is a meek housewife entering the workforce for the first time after being left by her husband for his secretary.
The three women playing these roles at Riverside all do an admirable job of stepping into material written to the specific talents of those who originated the characters on screen, each bringing her own special talents to her part.
But, as too often is the case with such adaptations, time and again the show seems to ask, “Remember what fun this moment was in the movie? Well, we can’t really replicate on stage what made it enjoyable on screen, so here’s another song instead.”
Nowhere is this more italicized than when the three women share their fantasies of revenge on Mr. Hart. Judy gets a film noir-ish nightclub number, Doralee a cowgirl-at-the-rodeo bit, and Violet, the memorable Disneyesque animated sequence, only without the animation.
The trouble is, outside of the hit title song carried over from the movie, only one number stands out: Doralee’s “Backwoods Barbie,” her lament about how she’s shunned by the other women in the office who, unbeknownst to her, believe the rumor spread by Mr. Hart that they’re having an affair.
Big, rousing renditions of the Oscar-nominated and Grammy-winning song “9 to 5” open and close the show, but carrying the whole score is an awful strain to place on one catchy tune, however popular it was when the movie hit theaters. (A sweet little variation, “5 to 9,” is a declaration by the character Roz of unrequited love.)
It may be that a celebrity songwriter like Parton (or Elton John, Cyndi Lauper, Sting or Paul Simon), as a hit-maker with a huge catalogue of chart-topping successes, didn’t have anyone on the original production team who would declare, “This isn’t strong enough. Go write us a ‘Jolene’ or an ‘I Will Always Love You.’”
That said, the three leads make the most of what they’re given. As Judy, Emily Fink belts her big self-empowerment aria, “Get Out and Stay Out,” to the heavens after tossing her philandering ex to the curb. And Stacia Fernandez’s Violet has a “Roxie Hart”-like number, “One of the Boys,” about being a female CEO, comically doing little while letting the men of the ensemble tap their hearts out, framing her in dance.
The ensemble, in fact, works hard throughout the show, slinking through walls and around corners to provide backup song and dance to the leading characters. Who can say if director/choreographer Richard Stafford’s work is a conscious homage to the era in which the show takes place, but his dances definitely evoke those remembered from Broadway of the 1980s.
The company also performs yeoman’s work rolling around desks, office equipment, shelves, hospital gurneys, and other set pieces that make up the production’s many environments in John Farrell’s fluidly changing scenic design.
Ken Sandberg makes Franklin Hart Jr. – the unscrupulous boss making everyone’s lives miserable – appropriately loathsome.
And thank heaven for Kathy St. George as Mr. Hart’s proxy, Roz. She’s a malevolent pixie, skulking around the Consolidated workplace, spying on her colleagues from a ladies room stall, lurking in the break room, and reporting her findings back to Mr. Hart. Yet St. George somehow makes her endearing, no more so than when she sings hilariously of her longing for The Boss.
One key change from the movie is the musical’s inexplicable insistence on giving Violet a love interest, the considerably younger Joe, whose advances she at first resists. Played by Matt Gibson, Joe helps the team expose Hart’s misdeeds and eventually wins Violet’s affection.
It’s odd that Hollywood allowed that she could remain happily single, but the ‘rules’ of the Broadway musical dictate that at least one romance must result from the proceedings.
Kurt Alger’s wig and costume design, especially the brown/beige/umber color scheme of the office clothes, are spot-on, making Judy’s first appearance at work wearing a prim suit and hat all the funnier.
Julie Duro’s lighting design makes effective use of darkness, as when the ensemble slips from the shadows to back up the leads’ big numbers. And the pit orchestra sounds terrific under the musical direction of Milton Granger.
Parton is currently at work on the finishing touches of a musical biographical stage show about her life that is headed to Broadway; no doubt incorporating lessons learned bringing “9 to 5 The Musical” into being. What a way to make a living, indeed.
“9 to 5 – The Musical” runs through May 10 at Riverside Theatre, 3250 Riverside Park Dr., Vero Beach. Tickets are available online at RiversideTheatre.com or by calling the box office at 772-231-6990.
Photos provided
