"9-5"

 

Energy, attack, panache, enthusiasm, joy. These are all words that I would use to describe the waves of sheer exuberance emanating from the cast of  “9-5” during the opening title song. Immediately, the audience was on the case completely enraptured by the dynamism of the full company. It is as well that this song is infectious, since those that follow are not nearly as hummable. It is a true earworm. Many of the full house on the final night of the run, will have been familiar with the other songs able to enjoy the pleasant sense that comes with being reintroduced to the familiar. As someone not as fortunate I was hearing most of them for the first time. Herein lies the challenge for performers and directors alike. Their trick being to successfully ensure the lesser known tunes make a strong impression on the audience.  Any unfamiliar melody takes time for our minds to assimilate.  The art lies in putting it across the footlights in an irresistibly appealing way. Burnley Light Opera Society ,with their long standing maestro Anthony Williams, at the helm are past masters at achieving this aim!

The plot of Dolly Parton’s musical is simple. A group of downtrodden badly treated mainly female employees obtain workplace justice by getting rid of their autocratic, misogynist boss. The means by which they achieve their aim are controversial to say the least.  But this is an escapist musical so who cares!?

The opening sequence demonstrated and reminded us, (well it has been two years), how talented this company is. There was so much going on in these big numbers. I particularly enjoy seeing individual characters doing their thing. At times the whole action became a cornucopia of smaller bits of business.  This is where live theatre scores every time over televised musicals.  When you watch live shows you can determine for yourself  what you want to see; observe what the supporting actors are doing on the edges or back of the action. In short, take a panoramic view, not the view of a person behind a camera. Anthony Williams knows this, devising choreography that is multidimensional.  With of course massive respect to the females the male dancers were exceptional. The lead dancer, Callum Tempest, created a storm as Dwayne Rhodes.

The three lead females  Zoe Tomkins, Leane Wharf and Jenny Gill worked together as a well honed trio to bring colour in abundance. Ann Mason gave us a rootin' tootin' Missy Hart. There are times in this piece when the audience is tempted to say “oh really!!!!!”, such is the unlikely nature of things happening in front of them. To avoid us taking this nonsense seriously the dynamic must be centred on reminding us that this is just a daft piece of musical theatre. Don’t let us be tempted to get our hanky out or become enraged over the criminal activities of some of the characters. In short we are asked in anti-Brechtian terms to leave our minds in the cloakroom on the way in. After all tonight  we are in the theatre to have a good time; to go back to the car park singing Working 9-5 what a way to earn a living”. (I get lost after that.) The day after the performance we will find ourselves singing the title song over our eggs and bacon. By the time we are sipping our bedtime Ovaltine we only remember what a good time we had the night before. 

I was sorry to hear of Joanne Gill’s misfortune forcing her to perform in a wheelchair with a heavily strapped leg. This in no way prevented her from producing the most accomplished of all the excellent performances as Roz. Pedigree, gleaned through years of experience of treading the boards, will always shine through. Congratulations.

Daniel Morville was horrible as Franklin. Sorry, let me change that. Franklin Hart was horrible in the hands of David Morville. Job well done, David.

Matt Dickinson, Joe Atkin as Joe and Josh respectively, added confident performances showing  then skill to get beneath the skin of their characters to offer us lively interpretations. It was good to see Geoff Baron, moving from the props table to add gravitas to the small yet important non-singing role of Russell Tinsworthy. Nice suit by the way, Geoff.

The set piece big number dance scenes were well executed with some individuals worthy of a special mention. I am sorry I don't know your names but Anthony does and will have congratulated you I am sure. 

And now we come to the set. Without being intrusive the back projections subtly yet assertively reminded us where we were. This was an ingenious bit of stage craft devised by Neil Dolman and David Walton.

 Hidden behind the back screen the 12 piece orchestra was remarkable under MD Steven Mercer-Murray. Never over-loud they were perfect in maintaining the right level of accompaniment. Perhaps the greatest compliment one can pay to musicians such as this is that I did not notice they were there. I know you will understand what I mean by that, Steven.

 The appearance of Dolly as herself, both at the beginning and the end, I found indulgent and to my mind it diluted the effect (notably at the musical's conclusion), of the terrific performances we had witnessed. I don't suppose it is possible contractually to drop it. So there must remain.

On the final curtain, the audience rose to their feet delivering back well deserved approval and praise to a marvellously inspired production. I was one of them!

PRM

 

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