Those of us of a certain age will recall — perhaps with a feeling currently called “cringe” — a pseudo-feminist TV commercial slogan from the ’70s: “You’ve come a long way, baby!” In fact, there are heaps of things from that era that we now cringe to think about — the decor, the clothes, the dancing, and especially the attitudes toward women.
And that is the tricky part about mounting a musical based on the film 9 to 5, about three secretaries taking revenge, both imagined and real, on their “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss. A lot has changed since the 1980 film, and even since the Broadway musical premiered in 2009. On one hand, women’s rights in the workplace have made some progress, but on the other, the #MeToo movement, which raised awareness but changed little, and the failure to shatter the ultimate glass ceiling show how far women still have to go.
MaryKate Brouillet (Judy), Janine Sunday (Violet), and Rachel Cahoon (Doralee) in ‘9 to 5 the Musical.’ Photo by Jeri Tidwell Photography.
When it comes to long-simmering frustrations, one feels like one must either scream or laugh. Jane Fonda, who produced and starred in the original film, chose to laugh, consciously steering away from anything that could be seen as preachy or lecturing. The movie stuck firmly to satirical fantasy, and so does the musical, approaching annoying issues through charm rather than chiding.
That approach is abundantly clear in the thoroughly entertaining production of 9 to 5 The Musical at Toby’s Dinner Theatre through March 16. Director Mark Minnick has pulled all the elements for a sparkling show from the drab 1970s. David A. Hopkins and Shale Lowry’s scenic design is a prime example — dreary colors coupled with fake wood paneling and oversized abstract shapes on the walls perfectly evoke the decade that taste forgot. But Lynn Joslin’s lighting design makes even these awkward patterns light up in rainbow colors when things get lively. In addition, blank clocks on the walls display video clips of the actual Dolly Parton, who starred in the film and wrote the music and lyrics for the musical, providing narration and a link to the source material.
Heather C. Jackson’s costumes do even more scene-setting and storytelling. The women’s business skirts, pussybow blouses, and jackets and the men’s three-piece suits place the show firmly in the pre-power-dressing era. Other costumes set characters apart. In her big number, when she fantasizes being the CEO, head secretary Violet makes a quick costume change into a gray pinstripe suit (but with sequined lapels and a bright red blouse) and dances with a chorus of also-pinstriped men. But it is a sign of earlier times that the only way she can see herself as in charge is if she looks and acts, as the big production number says, just like “One of the Boys.” Doralee (the main sex object of the story, who sings a song about being stereotyped as a “Backwoods Barbie”), while she is dressed in tighter skirts, lower necklines, and brighter colors than the other women, is still given dignity, not taken to clownish levels of sexiness. The emphasis is not on her appearance as much as on the creepiness of the men who sing about getting their hands on “those double Ds,” and the cattiness of the women who assume just from her looks that she must be sleeping with the boss.
The music lends even more to the air of fizzy cheerfulness. Dolly Parton’s country-flavored score won’t send you home humming any memorable numbers other than the opening “9 to 5” hit that you already knew. But Music Director Ross Rawlings and his six-piece orchestra bring it to knee-slapping life and make the most of its bright melodies and clacking-typewriter rhythms. He also charms terrific harmonies from the excellent chorus.
Christen Svingos’s not-at-all-disco choreography is a celebration in itself. Whether making office busywork seem lively or portraying lecherous company men or loopy Disneyesque woodland creatures, the chorus members fill the circular stage with kaleidoscopic action to bring their excitement and enthusiasm to every member of the audience. Director Minnick also works his usual magic in choreographing the dialogue, making sure that even though the action is in the round, every audience member can see at least one actor’s face and filling scene changes with nicely distracting pieces of business.
To top everything off, the voices and acting are terrific. Diane Alonzo has the rather thankless job of portraying Roz, the spying suck-up personal assistant who inexplicably actually adores her cheating, sexist boss. The role goes to show that not every woman in the ’70s was a feminist and that some in the war of the sexes were collaborating with the enemy. Her big love song to the big jerk, “Heart to Hart,” could descend into the deeply cringey if not for Alonzo’s head-over-heels delivery and the ludicrous presence of the chorus carrying posters portraying the boss as a host of Roz’s fantasies.
As that boss, Franklin B. Hart, Jordan B. Stocksdale has the even tougher job of making a despicable character not so extremely repellent that he’s no longer funny. Stockdale manages this by giving Hart just a hint of an inner life and genuine feelings. In his big number about his lust for Doralee, “Here for You,” there’s just a scintilla of sincerity, the ghost of an idea that he might at least think he actually loves her, which blunts the coarseness of his saying, “Will I get those legs uncrossed? ’Course I will, yeah, ’cause I’m the boss.” And in the three women’s revenge-fantasy sequences, he plays the victim with enough wide-eyed ingenuousness to keep the tone light, if homicidal. In the end, he gets what he deserves in a way that is satisfying but not sadistic.
Above all, it is the lead trio of women who make the show soar. Their scenes together are funny and charming, and their voices blend beautifully. As Violet, the no-nonsense head secretary who has spent years training men who are then promoted above her, Janine Sunday brings good-natured grit to her scene-setting number “Around Here,” a demented charm to her Disney-princess murder fantasy, “Potion Notion,” and satisfying sass to her big production number, “One of the Boys.” In between, she is very funny when her professionalism collapses into panic when she thinks she actually has bumped off her boss, and her comic delivery is excellent. MaryKate Brouillet, as the initially mousy divorcée, Judy, shows the most character development, delving into the role of femme fatale in her own homicidal vision, “The Dance of Death,” and then showing the true independent woman she has become when rejecting her cheating ex in the showstopper belting number, “Get Out and Stay Out.” And in the role of Doralee, Rachel Cahoon highlights her range, playing a markedly different character from her innocent Fraulein Maria in Toby’s previous show, The Sound of Music. Here, she channels her inner Dolly Parton to a T, complete with her sweet, high, quick-vibrato, country voice. Even so, Doralee also grows in character and confidence, coming to realize that she is far more than what people see when they look at her.
All in all, Toby’s Dinner Theatre’s 9 to 5 The Musical takes what could be a discomforting reminder of how dreary and frustrating the workplace was for women in the 1970s and makes it into a fizzy, funny, satirical fantasy by giving it heart. It even updates a few ideas, introducing the idea of a mature woman genuinely loving a younger man, and hinting at two women in a relationship. Perhaps we have “come a long way,” at least because we less frequently address grown women as “baby.” But how much hasn’t changed, even under the cheery musical coating, is a reminder that we still have a way to go.
Running Time: Approximately two and a half hours with one intermission.
9 to 5 The Musical plays through March 16, 2025, at Toby’s Dinner Theatre, 5900 Symphony Woods Road, Columbia, MD. Tickets, including dinner and show (adult, $84–$92; child, $64–$67), can be purchased by calling 410-730-8311 or online. (Rates per person include dinner, show, coffee and tea, and tax.)
The menu is here. The playbill is here.
9 to 5 The Musical
Music and Lyrics by Dolly Parton
Book by Patricia Resnick
Based on the Twentieth Century Fox film
