9 to 5 the Musical

The large cast of 16-21 year olds attacked this show, music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, with vim and vigour from the opening title song to the rousing finale, indicating their pleasure at being back on stage after the two year hiatus. The three female leads - Violet Newstead (Megan Love), Judy Bernly (Ellie Yeats) and Doralee Rhodes (Olivia Douglas) - were individually excellent and worked well as group. All had superb singing voices as shown in their solo spots – “Backwoods Barbie” (Doralee), “Get Out and Stay Out” (Judy) and “One of the Boys” (Violet). Sam Anderson as their arrogant, selfish boss Franklin Hart was also excellent and made the most of the humour in the role. Megan Cruickshank as Roz Keith, Franklin’s lovesick personal assistant, made a huge impact with her transformation from dowdy to sexy in her solo “Heart to Hart”. Max Paterson as Joe, Violet’s younger love interest, was another strong character and I particularly liked his duet with Violet “Let Love Grow”. Strong support was given by Sam Mitchell (Dick Bernly), Sophie Hatrick (Kathy), Orla Woods (office lush Margaret), Isla Mooney (Maria Delgado), Anna Thompson (Missy Hart), Alex Donnelly (Violet’s son Josh), Finlay Stripling (Dwayne Rhodes) and Fraser Wood (Russell Tinsworthy). The chorus sung and moved very well through out. The six main principals were double cast – Franklin Hart (Callum Mooney), Judy Bernly (Stephanie Walker), Doralee Rhodes (Gracie Spencer), Hollie Cunnigham (Violet Newstead), Andrew Robertson(Joe), Hannah Clark (Roz Keith) - and knowing the high standards of this company, I’m sure they were equally as good as those I had the pleasure of seeing. The set, designed and built by Susan Bell, was simple but effective with the different locations being achieved by the changes of furniture. These changes were carried out by the cast resulting in no delays. The 10 piece orchestra under the control of Kenny Hossick provided excellent support to the cast. Congratulations to everyone involved for a superb show.

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