9 to 5: The Musical, which had its debut here in LA last Fall during a short run at the Ahmanson Theater, officially made its Broadway debut at the Marquis Theater in NYC this week. Original stars of the film version of 9 to 5 (Lily Tomlin, Dolly Parton and Jane Fonda) met the new stars of the theater version (Allison Janney, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block) on the red carpet at the star-studded opening night affair. Here are a few pics from the red carpet arrivals and of the spirited curtain call along with some deets about the show’s opening:

Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin clocked on again last night almost 30 years after the release of their hit 9 to 5. The original castmates reunited for the opening night of the Broadway musical version of their 1980 feminist revenge comedy. Fonda, 71, and Tomlin, 69, turned out to support country star Parton, 63, who supplied the entire score for the production. She of course wrote the film’s famous theme tune by the same name. The West Wing’s Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty now play the three women who kidnap their sexist boss. Hilty steps into Parton’s high heels to play perky blond Doralee, who at one point performs a song penned by the star called Backwoods Barbie. Block plays Fonda’s character – an office worker who get a new lease on life after her husband who dumped her for a 19-year-old – while Janney takes on Tomlin’s role. Critic Michael Kuchwara gave it a lukewarm review, saying: “You kinda want 9 to 5: The Musical to be better than it is.” While he complains that director Joe Mantello plays out the show “in the key of frantic” he admits it is “a certified crowd-pleaser.” He concludes: “Savor it for Parton’s songs and the three women who sing most of them. They make the case for the show being more than just another workday event.”

I was fortunate enough to see the show here in LA last October and I completely agree with the review critic … I, too, felt that I wanted to love the show more but it was lacking in something. It is a crowd-pleaser and altho it’s not the perfect Broadway production, it is very entertaining and very true to the original film 9 to 5. If you are a fan of the movie, you will most likely love the Broadway version as well. The strengths of the show reall do rest on Dolly Parton’s songs and the strong performances of the principle cast. It remains to be seen if a show like this will be able to survive this tough economic market but I’m sure it’ll give Broadway a pretty good run.

[Photo credit: Splash News; Source]

Last night I got to see 9 to 5: The Musical at the Ahmanson Theater and have to say that, generally, I was very pleased with the performance. I found it very entertaining and absolutely had a really fun time. That being said, there were a few things that really didn’t gel with me and, I fear, might cause problems for the production once it moves to Broadway next year:

Let’s talk about the good stuff first. The cast is really amazing. Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney and Megan Hilty are superb in their roles as Judy, Violet and Doralee. I swear, if you close your eyes you’d swear Megan was Dolly based on her voice alone. Each actress really embodied the spirit of her character and each shone brightly in her own respect. But my highest praise has to go to Marc Kudisch who plays Franklin Hart, Jr. (the big bad boss). Not only was he the embodiment of Mr. Hart but he was deffo the hardest working person on the stage. He is on stage for, like 90% of the show and never broke character once … nor did he fumble a line at all. I was very impressed with his performance. I must admit, tho, that I found the show too literal exactly like the movie. Every single scene was duplicated, which is impressive and all but, I felt, too obvious. The stage is very bizzy … there is a lot involved with the staging, things are happening all over the place all the time. This is a problem for the show because they had to stop the performance (bringing down the curtain and making the audience wait about 10 mins.) before the end of the show because the was a problem changing the sets. I understand this happened on opening night a few weeks ago as well. I also felt that some of the songs didn’t really work for me … I know that Dolly Parton wrote them all but in a few scenes they just didn’t seem to flow. The Roz character was given a showcase song that, while funny, felt really awkward. But, overall I did enjoy myself and had a great time … I just worry that some portions of the show may get skewered by the harsh theater press in NYC. There are a lot of little surprises thruout the show which I found very charming. I think with a little more work the show could get really tight. I really want the show to do well … I guess we’ll see if they make any changes or if they’re just gonna take the production to NY as it is.

Tonight I’m going with Darion to see Duffy at The Orpheum Theater here in LA. I quite like a couple of her songs so I’m interested to see how she sounds live. Should be a good time.

9 to 5: The Musical had its official opening night at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA last weekend to begin its short run in SoCal before the show makes the move to Broadway early next year — and Broadway World was there to capture all the fun. Here are a few amazing photos from the show’s opening night, beginning with the cast bows at the end of the opening night performance:

9 to 5: The Musical opened on September 20th 2008 at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre. Performances will continue through October 19, 2008. 9 To 5: The Musical, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, will begin previews on Broadway Tuesday, March 24, 2009, and will open Thursday, April 23, 2009, at the Marriott Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). 9 To 5: The Musical marks the Broadway debut of seven-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and musician Dolly Parton as composer and lyricist. The musical’s book by Patricia Resnick is based on her original story and screenplay for the smash 1980 film comedy. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello and choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 To 5: The Musical will star four-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, and two-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch. 9 To 5: The Musical will have its world premiere engagement in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre beginning previews Wednesday, September 3, opening Saturday, September 20, and playing through Sunday, October 19, 2008.

The original actors from the movie version of 9 to 5 were in the hiz for the musical’s opening night and posed for pics with the theater players backstage:

I gotta say — Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dolly Parton were lookin’ pretty fierce. Dabney Coleman, bless his heart, has seen better days. I do love that all the original actors came out to support the opening of the musical. Here are a few pics of the original actors with their player counterparts:

I am so excited to see this show … I can’t wait to get my butt back to SoCal so I can see this show for myself. Wee.

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Dolly Parton, Allison Janney, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block were all on hand at the New 42nd Street Studios in NYC yesterday for a press conference to announce the opening date and theater home of 9 to 5: The Musical. Here are a few pics from yesterday’s event and some information on the show’s opening date:

The Marquis Theatre will be the Broadway home of the feisty office workers who are “just a step on the bossman’s ladder” in the Dolly Parton-Patricia Resnick musical comedy 9 to 5, producer Robert Greenblatt announced July 15. Following a fall run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles (Sept. 3-Oct. 19, opening Sept. 20), the Joe Mantello-directed production will begin Broadway previews March 24, 2009, and open April 23, 2009. 9 to 5: The Musical, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, has book by original screenwriter Resnick (who also came up with the film’s original story) and music and lyrics by country music legend and seven-time Grammy Award winner Dolly Parton, who also starred in the smash 1980 movie. This marks the Broadway debut of the writers. Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (In the Heights) will choreograph. As previously announced, 9 to 5: The Musical will star four-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Allison Janney as Violet, Stephanie J. Block as Judy, Megan Hilty as Dorelee, and two-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as Mr. Hart. (Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Parton and Dabney Coleman played the respective roles in the movie.) Here’s the plot: “When pushed to their boiling point by their boss, Franklin Hart Jr. (Marc Kudisch), Violet Newstead (Allison Janney), the super efficient office manager, Judy Bernly (Stephanie J. Block), a frazzled divorcee, and the sexy executive secretary Doralee Rhodes (Megan Hilty) turn the tables on him. The trio hatches a plan to get even with the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, and that plan quickly spins wildly and hilariously out of control.” Parton’s original score for 9 to 5: The Musical will include over 20 new songs as well as the Grammy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated No. 1 Billboard title song. “Backwoods Barbie,” heard on Parton’s new album of the same name, is also part of the show’s score, Parton previously said.

Love it, love it, love it! I’m not sure what I’m more excited about … the 20-song catalog or the amazing casting. You may recall that I was able to interview Megan Hilty a few months ago and she talked about preparing for her role as Doralee Rhodes in 9 to 5: The Musical. I deffo plan on seeing this show when it goes into pre-previews this Fall here in SoCal. After the jump, check out some promo artwork that will be used for the show …

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