Jeri Tidwell Photography
Forty-five years ago, 9 to 5 opened in cinemas nationwide and became an instant hit because of its bold message of female empowerment in a totally chauvinistic corporate world … all in the guise of a comedy (the film was originally to be a drama but star Jane Fonda felt it was going to be too preachy). The movie teamed up two very well-known actresses, Fonda and Lily Tomlin, and gave one well-known country singer her very first acting role — we’re talking about Dolly Parton, of course. Parton also wrote the film’s Oscar and Golden Globe nominated theme song, and scored two Golden Globe nominations for herself (you can insert your own jokes here). Most people have probably forgotten there was also a five-season TV series adaptation of the movie (featuring Parton’s sister, then billed as Rachel Dennison) since it really hasn’t been seen anywhere on TV in years and has never hit the home video market. Ideas for a movie sequel were floated that never came to fruition, but in September 2008 a stage musical premiered in Los Angeles, with new songs by Parton and a book by the film’s co-writer Patricia Resnick, that made its way to Broadway for a short run in April 2009, earning four Tony Award nominations. The show may have only run for 148 regular performances, but it has made the rounds in the UK and Australia, hit the road in North America, and has become a staple for regional productions. Now the show is playing at Toby’s Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland, but is it worth tumblin’ out of bed for?
The musical version of 9 to 5 follows the structure and storyline of the film pretty closely, with a few changes and additions. The show actually opens with a video message from Dolly Parton herself, introducing the show — noting that it is set in 1979 (to help make the story’s rampant misogyny more palatable, something that would come off entirely differently in the #MeToo era) — and the main characters as they all pour themselves a cup of ambition, ready to make a livin’ working 9 to 5. Set mainly in the offices of Consolidated Industries, we meet harried office manager Violet Newstead (Janine Sunday), who, besides making sure everything is running to their boss’ exact specifications, is also tasked with breaking in new girl Judy Bernly (MaryKate Brouillet), recently separated and with no work experience at all (she might have lied about that to get the job). The boss’ watchdog Roz Keith (Diane Alonso) keeps Violet on her toes, and his assistant Doralee Rhodes (Rachel Cahoon) is disliked by everyone because they believe she and the boss are having an affair. The boss, Franklin Hart (Jordan B. Stocksdale), is a male chauvinist pig who loves lording over the women in the office while hanging with the male executives, even promoting a man who Violet trained over her, despite her experience and tenure with the company.
Violet and Judy bond, and Doralee finally confronts them to know why they don’t like her, and quickly admonishes them for thinking she would stoop so low as to have an affair with Hart (not that he hasn’t tried). With the help of a joint gifted to Violet by her son, the three women bond more and share their fantasies of how they would do away with Hart. The next day, Violet is once again ordered to fix Hart a cup of coffee, but gets the Skinny N’ Sweet sweetener mixed up with the rat poison (except for the tiny skull and crossbones, the boxes look almost exactly alike), and Violet panics, believing she has indeed poisoned Hart. Roz alerts Hart to the mistake — he only took a small sip — and plans to make the three women believe he has been rushed to the hospital. Violet continues to spiral and plans to steal the body so no one learns of her ‘crime’, and while they clean up the office and hope to get rid of any evidence … Hart shows up in the flesh. Violet, Judy and Doralee still get the upper hand, kidnap Hart and lock him up in his own home (his wife has just left on a month-long cruise), hoping to have time to come up with a plan to save their hides. In the meantime, they make positive changes at the office (Doralee can sign Hart’s name to a memo better than he can), and they uncover some of his own nefarious deeds that may be the ammunition they need to nail him to the wall before anyone really notices he’s missing. But will Hart get the upper hand (again) and exact his own revenge?
Keeping 9 to 5 set in the same era as the movie instead of trying to update it to a more modern era is a smart move, and really the only way the show could work. Some people may have a hard time with it, especially as we seem to be moving backwards to a time when women are once again being treated as property. The show is certainly not meant to be political, but it has been made so inadvertently in the current climate where powerful men want to have absolute control over women. In a way, this has become a cautionary tale, but don’t worry, it’s never preachy. But … some of the more heavy-handed chauvinism of the story makes the show a little hard to get into, but it really gets rolling and becomes much more enjoyable once Judy, Doralee and Violet launch into their first big number, ‘I Just Might’. From there the story is at time absurdly funny (the hospital scene in particular) and touching as the women bond over their common enemy (or enemies, as Roz is certainly not part of their club). Where the show differs the most from the movie is with the introduction of one of the male office workers, Joe (Carter Crosby), a man somewhat younger than Violet who obviously has eyes for her, despite her constant rebuffs. Joe actually is the yin to Hart’s yang, willing to do anything for Violet if she’d just ask. Doralee’s husband Dwayne (Adam Grabau) and Violet’s son Josh (Joey Ellinghaus), in roles slightly expanded from the movie, join Joe as the sympathetic male characters, while Judy’s ex Dick (appropriately named) is just another jerk who dumped his wife for a much younger model. The story is filled with a lot of good laughs, most directly from the original movie’s script, and some wonderful songs by Parton.
As usual, director Mark Minnick manages to dig a bit deeper under the surface of the story to make these characters feel authentic, to make the situations feel real, while letting the slapstick moments in the hospital and the women’s fantasies be comedic without going too far over the top. Christen Svingos’ choreography is pretty amazing when the entire cast is involved in the bigger numbers, not just having to avoid each other in the small in-the-round space, but often needing to navigate around things like office furniture as well. The direction and choreography just work with each other hand-in-hand. The scenic design by David A. Hopkins and Shane Lowry is perfection, keeping everything firmly grounded in the era (the office setpieces above the stage also add to the ambiance), as do the costumes by Heather C. Jackson (those shiny blouses!) and hair/wigs by Jayson Kueberth. The whole production transports you back to the era and lets you forget about the present for a while.
Jeri Tidwell Photography
The 9 to 5 cast is outstanding. Janine Sunday has had some marvelous roles in Something Rotten and Spamalot, and she is just as wonderful as Violet, the by-the-book office drone having to balance work and home life, raising her son on her own (she’s recently widowed) while dealing with the pressures at the office. She also gets to go completely off the deep end after the ‘poisoning’, but that behavior never seems out of character — she just reached her breaking point. Sunday also has a marvelous voice and is featured in several numbers, the most notable being her ‘murder fantasy’ number ‘Potion Notion’ and Act II opener ‘One of the Boys’. It’s nice to have her back on the Toby’s stage. MaryKate Brouillet is also fantastic as Judy, the innocent, fish-out-of-water character who has to learn the ropes very quickly, showing off her dark side in her fantasy number ‘The Dance of Death’, and really cutting loose with the Act II ‘eleven o’clock number’, ‘Get Out and Stay Out’. She makes Judy nervous and jittery at first, but blossoms into a more confident woman with the help of her new friends, in the end not afraid of Hart or her ex. Rachel Cahoon is simply amazing as Doralee, nailing that country girl accent, and making the character sexy without being slutty. She portrays Doralee as a woman who clearly knows what she looks like, but dresses for herself not other men (well, except for Dwayne). She is also quite aware of Mr. Hart’s tricks to try to take advantage of her, never the ‘dumb blonde’ people seem to think she is, and when she finally snaps, that moment is ferocious. Cahoon, who last starred as Maria in The Sound of Music, has a powerful voice, getting to show it off even more here with her fantasy number ‘Cowgirl’s Revenge’ and, especially, ‘Backwoods Barbie’ (a song that clearly also describes Dolly Parton herself). These three women just mesh and work together and sing together so well that the performances are well worth the price of admission.
Jordan B. Stocksdale gets to play a more low-key character here as Mr. Hart. Stocksdale stole the show as Nostradamus in Something Rotten (winning a Helen Hayes Award in the process), and Brick in Escape to Margaritaville (earning a Helen Hayes nomination), and put his own spin on Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. Hart is a different animal, a character that has to be grounded in reality to be believed and he plays Hart with the right amount of, for lack of a better word, dickishness so the audience wants to see him get his comeuppance without totally hating him. He also gets to have some fun playing the women’s fantasy versions of Hart during their ‘revenge numbers’. It’s a balancing act and Stocksdale is more than up to the task. Carter Crosby is terrific as Joe, clearly showing his interest in Violet without behaving like a little puppy dog, and his duet with Sunday, ‘Let Love Grow’, is a sweet moment that helps cement their relationship.
Diane Alonso is excellent as Hart’s busybody spy (it’s really not clear what Roz’s job is, come to think of it), and does a great job with her songs ‘Heart to Hart’ and ‘5 to 9’. Another stand-out in a smaller but important role is Tina Marie Desimone as Margaret, the office lush, perfecting a slow, slightly tilted forward, tipsy walk, tossing off some funny one-liners and getting her own redemption by the end. Adam Grabau is wonderful as the totally supportive Dwayne, and Joey Ellinghaus has a couple of nice moments as Josh (although the script brings him to the office for no good reason and … just leaves him there). Robert John Biedermann also has a nice moment near the end of Act II as Hart’s boss, Mr. Tinsworthy. And the amazing ensemble works hard, as usual, as the office co-workers.
Jeri Tidwell Photography
At first, 9 to 5: The Musical feels terribly dated but with the excellence of the production, the amazing cast and the wonderful songs, you end up finding yourself immersed in the era and invested in the story of Violet, Judy and Doralee. So tumble out of bed, stumble to the kitchen, grab yourself a cup of ambition and head to Toby’s Dinner Theatre to see these folks workin’ hard in 9 to 5.
Of course with the show comes the dinner (or brunch if you hit one of the matinees) with a buffet of delicious food including the salad bar, Violet’s Succotash, Judy’s Carrots, Backwood Brussel Sprouts, Doralee’s Mac and Cheese, the signature Spinach Phunque, Mashed Potatoes, Blue Plate Special Meatloaf, Hart’s Chicken Parmesan, Baked Tilapia, Steamed Shrimp and the Carving Board with Steamship Round, Baked Virginia Ham and Roasted Breast of Turkey. Dessert includes chocolate cake or cheesecake, and an ice cream bar. As with every show, 9 to 5: The Musical has its own specialty drink, the Skinny N’ Sweet, which is a delicious strawberry creamsicle with optional whipped cream vodka, topped with a cherry and a marshmallow rat! It is delicious, and you get to keep the glass as a souvenir! A great dinner and a great show — you can’t go wrong with a trip to Toby’s.
9 to 5: The Musical runs about 2 hours 30 minutes with one intermission. Note that fog, haze and strobe effects are used in this production. Due to some adult themes and language, the show is recommended for ages 13 and up. Note that construction is underway on the new Toby’s facility so check the website for road closure and parking information.
9 to 5: The Musical runs through March 16, 2025. Toby’s next production is the classic musical The Music Man. (March 21 – May 18).
Toby’s Dinner Theatre
Check our Ticketmaster link for ticket availability.
