A feel-good show that’s missing an edge
“9 to 5” is what you might call a guilty pleasure sort of show. Think “Legally Blonde,” “Urban Cowboy” and “The Wedding Singer” — just not quite as good.
Set in 1979, this female liberation comedy is about a sex-mad boss who likes to get his young secretaries prone on his office couch.
He’s a bit of a scumbag, a #MeToo sort of male and he deserves the stiletto poke in the crotch that shrinks his libido later in the second act of “9 to 5.”
When Violet, Doralee and Judy, a trio of office drones, decide to give Franklin Hart Jr. some payback time, he’s not so hot to trot.
Flyweight material, this comic musical is about smart women trying to batter the glass ceiling, trying to pay back the sort of husband who trades in a loyal spouse for a 19-year-old chicklet and trying to take back control of their lives. If they give the dumb office males they work with the boot, that’s good too.
As a movie with Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, “9 to 5” was buoyed by a trio of terrific performances.
Reimagined with western-tinged lyrics and pleasant music from Parton, the stage version with a reworked Patricia Resnick script makes for an entertaining production. Trouble is there’s nothing remotely sophisticated here. To work properly, this “9 to 5” needs to go a lot faster than it does at Hamilton Theatre Inc. Scenes that should end with a bang tend to trail off and end in protracted blackouts while actors roll scenery off and on.
There is something special though — a standout performance from Erin Sullivan that lifts this production aloft. It’s slick, polished and perfect.
Sullivan’s Doralee Rhodes (Parton in the film) is just plain terrific. She lobs over the indifferent Parton songs with just the right notion of how silly they are. She sets a match to “Flame Like the Sun,” taking control of the stage. She gives the show one of its honest moments, too, with “Here For You,” a song that has some touching Parton lyrics.
Sullivan looks terrific in Jaida Lapsley’s 1970s costumes and she mostly makes the silly lines she has to speak believable.
Her only problem is the hideous wig she’s forced to wear. A ceremonial burning closing night is definitely in order.
Tim Denis has fun with the oversexed, loser of a boss role and he’s just sleazy enough to make you believe he’d cheat on his wife, cook the company books and keep poor Violet, the wouldbe CEO of the company, from getting ahead.
Catherine Silverglen is good as poor Vi, if only she’d tone down the mugging and play the character for more truth. Her “One of the Boys” number is a standout, in spite of the fact she’s working with a male chorus line who can’t dance for beans.
Aramenta Sobchak, the new office pigeon, ripe for Hart’s plucking, has a nice stage presence, but she forces her songs so they sound a tad shrill.
Supporting performances are ho-hum with too much forced comedy and too little energy.
Director Dustin Jodway needed to crank the pace to keep the show moving, because as it is, it’s too slow. Some staging is awkward and when “9 to 5”’s characters should ring with truth, too often, they’re just cardboard cut-outs.
Choreographer Bree McLean-Roberts does what she can with a cast that mostly have two left feet.
Visually, the show has a makedo look with a set that could do with more detail and style.
Musical accompaniment doesn’t really drive the production and Jennifer Ferreira’s musical direction doesn’t keep this cast’s harmonies strong or on pitch.
The Parton songs are fine, but “9 to 5” is the only one you’ll be humming when you leave.
“9 to 5” is a feel-good show — bloated, though, with phoney warm fuzzies that rob it of edge. It has just about every corny cliché in the book. It’s a pretty skewed look at the way men and women deal with office politics, advancement and sexuality, but if you want to see how 1979 looked around the office cooler, you might have fun.