“9 to 5: The Musical,” July 20 through 30

Thursday, July 20, through Sunday, July 30

Timber Lake Playhouse, 8215 Black Oak Road, Mt. Carroll IL

Lauded by the New York Daily News as "fresh and original" with "bouncy, big-hearted songs," the acclaimed stage version of a film-comedy smash enjoys a July 20 through 30 debut at Mt. Carroll's Timber Lake Playhouse, with 9 to 5: The Musical deemed "a triumph" by The Guardian, which added, "It seemed improbable, given the cult status of the movie, but the stage show has met it and raised it, rather than being its pale imitation."

Featuring music and lyrics by the film's co-star Dolly Parton, 9 to 5: The Musical centers on the downtrodden working lives of three women: Violet, Judy, and Doralee (played in the 1980 movie by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, and Parton). They all work at Consolidated Industries, which is presided over by the sexist, lecherous, and pompous Franklin Hart. Violet has worked at Consolidated for many years, but has never been given the chance to rise above senior-supervisor status. Judy is newly separated and joins the company having never worked before. Doralee is a sexy, happily married country girl, but she is ostracized from the other female workers. After Judy has an awful first day, Hart passes Violet over for another promotion, and Doralee finds out that Hart has been telling everyone they are having an affair, the three women unite in their hatred of Hart, fantasizing about how they would kill him. Yet when Violet almost unwittingly poisons Hart the next day, he blackmails the three women, threatening them with police action. Doralee, however, ties Hart up with phone wires and, feeling empowered, the three women decide to imprison him in his own house while his wife is away, running the office to great effect during Hart's absence. But what will happen if and when Hart breaks free?

Boasting a book by Patricia Resnick, based on the screenplay by Resnick and Colin Higgins, 9 to 5: The Musical premiered in Los Angeles in September of 2008, and opened on Broadway the following April. The show went on to received 15 Drama Desk Award nominations, the most received by a production in a single year, as well as four Tony Award nominations, including Parton's for Best Original Score and Mom and The West Wing star Allison Janney's as Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical. A national tour was launched in 2010, followed by a U.K. premiere in 2012. It opened in the West End in February 2019 and then launched a UK Tour in 2021, leading The Guardian's Ed Pilkington to rave that Parton was "the real star of the show. She is not on stage, but her presence fills it. She has composed a set of songs, accompanied with her own lyrics, that complement the original song. The greatest triumph of the night was that the film has been reinvented as a musical so successfully."

Timber Lake's production, directed by Tommy Ranieri and choreographed by Joshua Keen, stars Anne Sheridan Smith as Violet, Makenzie Ruff as Doralee, Bryanna Cuthill as Judy. and Galloway Stevens as Frank Hart. Oliver Townsend serves as music diretor and Elaina Veasey as stage manager, with the show's scenic designs are by Joshua Warner, costume designs by Maya Faye Gordon, props design by Sydney Vega Pauley, lighting design by Dylan Carter, sound design by Joe Cave, and projections design by Alex Gendal.

9 to 5: The Musical runs at the Mt. Carroll theatre July 20 through 30, with scheduled performances at 7:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Admission is $25-35, and more information and tickets are available by calling (815)244-2035 and visiting TimberLakePlayhouse.org.