9 to 5 The Musical

The sets for this show were wonderfully constructed and looked amazing with many scene changes all of which were seamless. The society make their own sets for Scenery Hire in Wales to buy to hire out to other societies which is a wonderful asset to both companies. The projection with Dolly Parton at the beginning set the scene nicely and the props and costumes were fabulous. The lighting plot worked really well and the sound never missed a cue.

The Orchestra sounded fabulous under the baton of Paul Firth and clearly many hours had been spent rehearsing new songs and harmonies. Apart from 9 to 5 most of the songs were unknown to me but I particularly liked I Just Might, The Dance of Death, Shine Like the Sun,  5 to 9 and Change It. The opening number 9 to 5 was simply stunning in vocals, dancing and direction, Here and Now was creepy and Heart to Hart had brilliant lyrics and was the funniest number of the show with many mini Roz’s.

The direction was brilliant and seamless with good choreography cover for scene changes and the choreography itself was innovative and stylish and drilled to perfection.

The company numbers were expertly set with effective use of space and each ensemble member playing their part. This is such a brilliant feel good show with many strong wonderful parts for female actors and the principal cast performed it beautifully.

To the male principals first, Jon Crebbin was excellent as the sexist, mysogonist Franklin Hart Jr. With fantastic vocals on the creepy “Here for You” I had to remind myself often throughout that this was Jon, so good was the acting.

Gary Jones McCaw was fabulous as Joe playing well opposite Nicky Mead as Violet. I loved “Let Love Grow” the duet between the two which was absolutely beautiful.

Now to the females, as mentioned Nicky Mead was fantastic as Violet Newstead the strong office manager who plots Franklin’s downfall. Her comic timing was great and

all of her  numbers were superbly delivered.

Kerry Newton was excellent as Doralee the part played by Dolly Parton in the film. She looked the part and sounded great on the numbers “Backwoods Barbie” and “Cowgirl’s Revenge”

Laura Hoyle was utterly stunning as Judy Bernly with great acting, dancing and superb vocals. “Get Out and Stay Out” was one of my favourite numbers and the vocals with Nicky and Kerry on “I Just Might”, ”Shine Like the Sun” and “Change it were absolutely flawless.

The stand out performance of the other actors was Claire Egerton who played Roz Keith the office sneak, secretly in love with the boss Franklin. Her acting was brilliant with perfect comic timing and with no shame in the scene on the loo and on her solos especially Heart to Hart she stole the show for me.  Claire is also a very accomplished dancer and shone in the chorus numbers as well as her solos with moves on the desk and sofa which were hilarious. An excellent performance which I loved.

This was a stunning show from start to finish and the first time I have seen the stage show. Other societies will have a lot to live up to with these performances and staging. Well done everyone involved.

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