9 to 5 The musical

It was a great pleasure to attend this lovely theatre once again and I would like to thank the
company for their lovely welcome.

This was the company’s first production post pandemic and they had decided to perform the Dolly
Parton musical 9 to 5. This musical is an upbeat one inspired by the 1980’s film of the same name. It
features projected images of the Actress herself and is a very busy show. It does however deal with
many issues pertinent to today, such as discrimination etc.

It is very much a female led show and the company were fortunate to have three talented ladies in
the lead roles with Karen Myring ( Violet ) , Cat Hooper ( Judy ) and Zoe Jones ( Doralee ) playing the
lead roles. These ladies kept the production moving at a good pace, and are all to be congratulated
on their performances both vocally and for their acting. They all commanded the stage individually
and in the group numbers. I really liked Judy’s rendition of Get out Stay Out, a very difficult number
but well performed.

Supporting these main characters there were a number of lovely performances by members of the
company playing the other office girls, Eleanor Williams , Becca Brimfield, Jessica Lewis, took the
roles of Kathy, Maria and Margaret, with Kerrianne Peters taking the role of Harts wife Missy. I felt
Gaynor Williams ( Roz ) , took her role really well and I especially liked her rendition of Hart to Hart.
With such a powerful female led show the male roles are sometimes forgotten but Lee Bentley (
Franklin Hart Jr) played the obnoxious bigot with humour and got the audience taking an instant
dislike to him.

The other male roles were played by Kallum Brain ( Dick ) , Richard Loveday ( Joe ) Alex Williams
( Josh ) , Lewis Ansell ( Dwayne ) with a lovely cameo from David Roberts as Mr Tinsworthy.
The ensemble were well choreographed and all the dance routines were fun and busy,
congratulations to the Director Anthony Argyle. The ensemble numbers were also well put across
and it was obvious that Matt Hampson had worked hard with all the cast .

The live orchestra under the control of Musical Director Matt Hampson were very impressive and
never once overpowered the vocalists.

Finally I feel I must warmly congratulate Stage Manager Gareth Edwards and his team, having
performed in this space I am aware of the technical difficulties producing a full scale musical in this
venue bring, but all scene changes were really smooth, and all rear projections worked really well.
Nicely covered occasionally with some nice dance routines, which really helped with the flow of the
show.

It was a pleasure to attend this production and thank you once again for your hospitality, I look
forward to seeing your next production “ Beautiful “ in 2024.

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