9 to 5 the Musical

This show, with music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, rises or falls depending on the relationship built up by the actresses playing the three leading characters – and did this production rise! These three ladies – Fiona Chapman (Violet Newstead), Michelle Newell (Doralee Rhodes) and Kadee Fraser (Judy Bernly) – were strong individually but as a group were an unstoppable force. Fiona’s portrayal of Violet, the woman who was confident in her work capacity but less so in her private life, was excellent. I particularly enjoyed her rendition of “One of the Boys”, in which she soared over the stage on a swing (overcoming her fear of heights!). Michelle’s Doralee was every inch the voluptuous Southern blonde proving you should never judge a book by its cover. Her rendition of “Backwoods Barbie” was suitably poignant and contrasted well with the comedy “Cowgirl’s Revenge” number. Kadee’s transformation from mousey divorcee to confident single woman was magnificent. Her powerful rendition of “Get Out and Stay Out” was a show stopper. Trevor Nicol’s portrayal of the misogynistic CEO Franklin Hart Jnr was in true melodrama baddie style – in your mind you could see him evilly twirling his moustache as he plotted his revenge against the ladies. Morag Barron’s portrayal of Roz Keith, Hart’s lovelorn PA, especially the transformation from dowdy spinster to sex siren in the “Hart to Heart” number, was comedy gold.  Graeme White, as Violet’s toy-boy love interest Joe, gave a good performance particularly in their duet “Let Love Grow”.  There were lots of nice cameo parts played by the ensemble but mention must be made of Caroline Nicol’s portrayal of Margaret the office drunk whose one liners added greatly to the comedy in the piece. Ensemble singing and dancing were of the usual high standard expected of this company. The set was simple, colourful and effective with scene changes being efficiently executed. Costuming was well done and appropriate to the characters and period. Well done to everyone for a most enjoyable show.

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