Office comedy sparkles with gung-ho MacEwan cast
9 to 5 was not a great movie when it was released in 1980 – but it tapped into slumbering feminist passions that were just stirring at the time.
It also featured terrific performances from three powerhouse stars, Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin. It was a big hit. The inevitable Broadway musical followed in 2009 – and is now in production from MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Program, at the Triffo Theatre until Dec. 8.
This stage iteration still manages to press the familiar buttons and, heaven knows, the #MeToo movement has shown that sexism still festers at the heart of our society. The original Broadway show was an entertaining enough romp, a good old-fashioned musical featuring an entirely new rockabilly-R&B-pseudo-country score by Parton (as well as the iconic theme song). Outdated attitudes, sniggering ’70’s jiggle jokes and horn-dog office letches hang over the evening, but there are some efforts at modernization. The central plot creaks, but no more than many other musical comedies.
The original hooks remain – mainly the delight we experience in the downfall of the “boss” – the hateful Franklin J. Hart (Stefan Theriault). As Hart himself observes, he’s a “sexist, lying, hypocritical, bigot.” Three of his put-upon female employees are Violet (Lindsay Downs), the efficient office manager who keeps butting her head on the glass ceiling. There’s Doralee (Darian Yurkoski), the voluptuous southern belle who spends much of her time fending off her horny boss’s advances. Judy (Kristen Schaeffer) is the newcomer – a lost waif after her husband left her for a younger woman and who finds a new sense of self-worth in the intrigues the trio devise.
Pushed to the limit, the ladies imprison the boss and then run the company (successfully) in his absence, generating equal parts wish-fulfillment, fantasy and comedy. Director Jim Guedo sets a brisk pace and the large 20-person cast responds with a “let’s put-on-a-show” enthusiasm and a kind of “you-go-girl” spirit. I’m sure this is the first time in a large production for many in the student cast, but between Guedo’s savvy direction and Amber Borotsik’s spirited choreography there is no sign of their tender years.
Parton’s words and music won’t ever be mistaken for being great but Yurkoski’s Doralee shows a sprightly country spunk in her pursuit to be accepted as a person and not a sex object – and although no Parton (who is?), has a lovely voice. One of her efforts, the plaintive Backwoods Barbie, comes closest to memorable. Schaeffer’s’ Judy faces the same problem Fonda did in the film – the part is a bit underwritten and demands the actress perform the balancing act of playing a lost soul without getting mired in lost-soul cliche. The actress plays off the two emotions skillfully. Downs’ Violet peppers the undervalued office manager with accents of dry wit and a bristling intelligence. She’s particularity impressive in the power ballad One of the Boys. All three performers are optimistic and determined.
In the original movie, Dabney Coleman was the sexist villain you loved to hate. The character was proto-Weinstein, and in this production Theriault plays him broadly and is a very funny as the eminently hiss-able villain.
The production values are impressive. In keeping with a college production, there is a veritable army of backstage technical support. Of special note are video designer Ian Jackson’s projections. They ingeniously underline and illuminate the storyline, and while they don’t compete with what’s on stage, they are quite inventive.
You may not be humming the tunes tomorrow but the show rolls merrily along and any problems are certainly overcome by a gung-ho cast and a lively production.
Photos by Bluefish Studios
