9 to 5 The Musical

I HAVE always had problems with a musical I call a “one-song musical”, and that was the preconception I went in with for the opening night of 9 to 5 The Musical. But I am delighted (and relieved) to say that that preconception was pretty soon debunked.

This is by no means the greatest musical ever written – and nobody pretends that it is. It is based on the affectionately remembered 1980 comedy film which starred Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton (in her first film) as the three working women whose fantasies of getting even with and overthrowing the company's autocratic, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss come to fruition.

It was a film of and about its time – the 1970s – and to make it work it needs to be well and truly placed in that time. We are, after all, talking about hair (lots of it) including Farrah Fawcett hairstyles, bellbottoms and other assorted fashion horrors that I shudder to think we used to wear! It was also the era of manual typewriter and white-out, when a fax machine had not even been invented, much less a pc or a laptop!

Thankfully the script has not been drastically altered, written by Patricia Resnick who wrote both the film and the musical. All she has done is expand her original script to include the Dolly Parton score - and it works. Like the original film, it has a certain charm, lightness and accessibility which is just the kind of fare people crave these days with a world so topsy-turvy with recent world events.

Sandra Neal has directed a cheerful and high-spirited cast in this pacy, amiable production which had me smiling throughout. It may be a musical, but it is the playing of the comedy that remains at the heart of the piece, setting it apart from other contemporary musicals.

From the opening featuring the projection of Dolly Parton herself to the finale when Parton urges everyone to “tell all your friends” if you enjoyed it (and if you didn’t “just shut up”), the whole evening was played with a certain delightful joie de vivre which would challenge even the most hard-hearted of people.

The comedy was delivered with first-class timing, pace and energy which lay squarely in the experienced hands of the five leads.

Rachel Cairns is a musical theatre favourite in Townsville with a swathe of major roles in her career – not to mention her sterling contribution on the other side of the stage. As Violet Newstead (the Lily Tomlin role), she plays a woman who is treated like a secretary and overlooked for promotion simply because she is a woman. She not only had the opportunity to show her singing prowess – particularly in the Act 2 production number One of the Boys, a direct homage to the song Roxie from Chicago – but also her considerable comic timing. She did not miss a beat with her delivery, guiding laughter exactly where it needed to go.

Together with her two partners in crime (in more ways than one!), the three central characters delivered a tangible performance camaraderie which crossed the footlights to hold the entire show together. Without this, the show would still have been enjoyable, but with it there is a whole new level.

Jasmin Della Baite as Judy Bernly (the Jane Fonda role) had the greater acting journey growing from a timid mouse returning to work after divorce to transform into a confident woman. No wonder the opening night audience gave such an appreciation of her Act 2 solo Get Out and Stay Out.

Courtney Dibben as Doralee Rhodes (the Parton role) was a sheer delight as the country gal Texan who the entire office misunderstands. Just as Parton imbued the role with a self-mocking sense of humour back in 1980, so too did Dibben, delivering a three-dimensional character who could so easily have slipped into caricature.  This role established Parton’s screen persona forever as never taking herself particularly seriously and just having fun, and this is precisely what Dibben does – her Act 1 song Backwoods Barbie said it all!

In recent years we have seen Luke Reynolds in a great many diverse roles in musical (and non-musical) theatre.  As Franklin Hart Jr, the quintessential dinosaur male chauvinistic boss, it was the opportunity for him to let rip with the comedy, and he has never been better. 

One of my favourite comic actresses in Townsville in recent years has been Jodie Bell, who never disappoints. With customary expertise she again delivered a fully-rounded character evident from the moment she set foot on stage. This time she plays the office dragon who spies and reports on the office staff to the boss for whom she burns a secret candle. Strongly reminiscent of Adelaide’s Lament from Guys and Dolls, her Act 1 showstopper Heart to Hart was a moot lesson in precise comic timing. 

Add to the comic heart of the production a really good 12-piece orchestra, slick and unobtrusive scene-changes, great lighting, and an energetic and exuberant cast who looked as though they were having the time of their lives, and here are all the elements for a good fun evening.

My only gripe – and a minor one that – was that the set-up of the three fantasies/dream sequences should have been a bit more noticeable. A simple lighting effect would have sufficed to differentiate between the action and the dreams.

Trevor Keeling

Photographer: Sonia Warrell.