9 to 5

 

Racegoers at Ripon this week might consider a reference to 9 to 5 to be the starting price for a horse with a reasonable chance of winning its race.  Those of us with more of an interest in the stage than the stable know it as the title of a Dolly Parton hit song originally written for a 1980 film and subsequently built into a full-blown musical.  Its plot concerns a misogynist employer (Franklin Hart Jr) who is eventually given his come-uppance by three female employees (Violet, Doralee and Judy).  The life style of the usual office day of the 1970s, reflected in the title, is becoming rather less common now that there's so much working from home but so too, thankfully, are some of the less welcome attitudes of that time. 

It's a show very much in the American style (by coincidence a horse of this name came 3rd in the 3.45 at Ripon) and  Grace Knill in the part of Doralee does well to adopt the Tennessee accent of its composer, although occasionally at the expense of our missing some of her dialogue.  She has a strong singing voice which she used to full effect in her songs, especially "Backwoods Barbie" and "Cowgirl's revenge". Laura Jackson is an experienced performer and it was good to see her back on the Harrogate stage in the role of Violet, a down-trodden, long-serving employee, constantly overlooked for promotion.  Her songs were skilfully delivered and her fantasy scene, "Potion Notion" in which she dreams of poisoning her employer in the style of the wicked Queen from Snow White was supported by a number of the director's collection of puppets as various furry animals of the forest. The third member of the trio, Judy, is a newcomer to life in the office, initially somewhat naive, with difficulties at the photocopier, but rapidly gaining confidence. Emma-Louise Dawes captured the essence of her character well and her song "Dance of Death" was another memorable part of the show. 

Although the three of them are no fans of their employer, he does have an admirer in the form of his assistant, Roz. Nadia Murrell bared her soul (almost literally) with her plaintive song "Heart to Hart" and later told us how the hours 5 to 9 when she is no longer in her boss's company are purgatory for her.  She gave a good performance as the taken-for-granted, ever present employee, the victim of an unrequited love.  Another member of the office staff, Joe, has a similar problem with his admiration for Violet, which she initially feels unable to reciprocate, although she eventually does give in. Dan Stanford was a late replacement in the part and the couple have a charming duet, "Let love grow". As for the villain,          Simon Marie gave an amusing performance as the Hart with no heart, the domineering and lecherous boss.

The show was enacted in front of a video screen which displayed a number of backgrounds, not to mention contributions from Dolly herself which book-ended the production. Unlike some shows, the ensemble has much to do with involvement in several colourful scenes and lively choreography, as well as responsibility for changing props, including beds, settees and various items of office furniture. There was a nice cameo from Richard Naylor as Mr. Tinsworthy, chairman of the company, a Buffalo Bill lookalike, who promotes Hart to the Bolivia office in recognition of the company's improved performance.  In fact it had been the ladies who had been responsible for this but at least they achieved their target of ridding themselves of this distasteful boss. A 10-piece band made a splendid sound and provided excellent support.                   

Another entertaining performance from this society, its success coming despite a few scares with the afore-mentioned late change of a principal and the director's sudden illness, from which he’s now, thankfully, recovered. To quote the name of another of the horses at the races, you might say it had been a case of mind over matter. Sadly, the animal turned out to be a non-runner; thank goodness the same wasn't true of this enthusiastic group of performers.        

                                

                          

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.