9 to 5 THE MUSICAL

There was a lovely story about the filming of the movie, '9-5'. The three leads, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton, were taking a break, when Jane mentioned that the producers were having difficulties finding a song for the opening title sequence - Dolly said she would write one over the weekend - the others were sceptical about this but on the Monday morning, Dolly arrived with a song and proceeded to sing it to the producers - and that's when the iconic number came to be known world-wide - '9 to 5' !! This was 1980 and the world was to hear a lot more from Dolly Parton!!

The stage musical of the show came around with Dolly now composing and writing all the show's numbers, along with Patricia Rosnick, who had written the original screenplay. It was an instant hit and when it finally became available to amateur theatre, there was a great rush to perform it, as you can imagine. This time it has been the turn of WAG to bring the show to their audiences - and it was brilliant!

The story is itself a period piece but still resonates today - three office workers unite to get their revenge on their misogynist boss - Violet, the office supervisor, played here superbly by Louise Norbury-Robinson, takes under her wing newcomer, Judy, (Beth Henderson-Clark) - Beth sang with determination and power. Judy's husband had just left her for his secretary and she had not worked in years. Completing the threesome is Doralee, secretary to the hated boss of Consolidated Industries, Franklin Hart - Nichola Taberner played Doralee to perfection - Dolly herself would have been proud!  All three girls were strong in both song and lib and really worked very well together. The object of their hatred was Mr Hart, the boss - played with lecherous conviction by Nick Jackson. The girls decide to kidnap him and hold him prisoner in his own home - now, I do know that the script says he is trussed up and left dangling from the ceiling - in this production, without any means of him being strung up, he is handcuffed to the toilet! - hilarious, and one of many clever touches from the Director, Charlotte Jackson. Charlotte knows the limitations of the stage here very well and had produced some neat choreography for her cast (she was assisted by Claire Williamson. (Claire, Frankie Lakin and Sarah-Louise Martin were Dance Captains). The staging was slick, with scene changes done by the cast, allowing the action to move along without stopping and kept the audience on its' toes, as we moved from Violet's flat, to the office and various locations in between.

Mr Hart's personal assistant, Roz, played with verve and panache by Claire Williamson, transforms from plain-Jane to a corseted raver in her undying admiration for Mr Hart.

There is a little bit of love interest when Joe, a lowly office worker, (played charmingly by Matthew Jackson) is trying to win an older Violet over - but she is a reluctant widow with a teenage daughter, Joanie (a winning Anna Deane). Michael Eliot Hall doubled up excellently as Dwayne, Doralee's husband and changed characters completely to become Judy's ex, Dick (double entendres abound). Andrew Brown played Mr Tinsworthy, Consolidated's big boss with a good characterisation.

Other small parts and ensemble were played by; Laura Harvey, Claire Jackson, Joshua Knight, Frankie Lakin, Sarah-Louise Martin, Mia Rayson Regan, Kelley Row, Judy Harberd, Ann Marie Mallinson, Sam Rawlings, Helen Thomson and Scarlett Walker. In fact, no cast members lost their characters throught - and although the stage is small, it didn't feel crowded at all.

Louise Norbury-Robinson was the Musical Director and the music was recorded and provided by the Rightsholders, MTI - this can be difficult to adjust to but Louise had drilled her principals and remaining cast very well and made the whole thing feel very professional.

As always, the backstage crew gave superb support to the actors; Dan Dainter, Lighting; Chris Beardwell, Sound; Stage Crew; Tim Bigland, Sean Robinson, Keith Speight and Jason Robinson. Vintage costumes were sourced by Claire Jackson; Bookings and Stage Manager, Lynne Bigand; Kate Bentley, Publicity; together with Lorna Marshall, Front of House. It takes all these marvellous volunteers to support the onstage cast and they should be applauded.

And as to the end of the story..... Violet, with Joe's help. find out that Hart has been swindling the company out of money - Violet has run the office so well without Hart and his nasty ways that Mr Tinsworthy makes her the new CEO - Hart escapes his bondage and tries to talk his way back into his position but instead gets sent to a new office in Bolivia!  Doralee is once again living happily ever after with Dwayne - and Judy realises she can manage very well without her rotten husband, Dick - in fact, this show and its message still fit in well today - and of course, we start and finish the show with a few chosen words from Dolly herself - she joins in with the final chorus - what a performer and what a wonderful production from WAG - their usual very high standards!

My congratulations to you all!

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