Katie Griswold, Haley Tromblee, Kevin Pieper, and Shana Kulhavy in 9 to 5: The Musical (photo by Nat20 Photography)
If you’re unfamiliar with the 1980 movie 9 to 5, imagine the comedic absurdity of The Office blended with the righteous revenge of The Chicks’ song “Goodbye Earl” – except it’s sung by Dolly Parton. The fun multiplies with 9 to 5: The Musical, which is now playing at the Spotlight Theater in Moline, and features music and lyrics by Queen Dolly herself.
Set in a very '70s-'80s office in which women do all the work and men take all the credit, the story centers on Violet (Shana Kulhavy), the incredibly competent but overlooked head secretary. She befriends Judy (Haley Tromblee), a young divorcée who’s lacking in professional skills but overflowing with emotional baggage. Meanwhile, Doralee (Katie Griswold) is trying to clear her undeserved reputation as the workplace floozy. The trio bond over their common enemy, misogynistic boss Franklin Hart (Kevin Pieper), and after a touch of accidental poisoning and a little bit of kidnapping, the women discover what they’ve known all along: The office really is better with them in charge. The woman in charge of the Spotlight's production is director Rebecca Casad, and we saw the opening-night performance on February 6.
Kitty: In keeping with the feminist theme, the women were the ones driving this show.
Mischa: The three main actresses are all blessed with tremendous singing voices, and each one alternately becomes the center of attention in a series of impressive numbers. Griswold, in particular, demonstrated a perfect combination of assertiveness and country-inflected vocal virtuosity in a pair of songs, “Backwoods Barbie” and “Cowgirl’s Revenge,” in the first act.
Kitty: She was my favorite. She definitely embodied the role's Dolly Parton energy. But I also loved watching Kulhavy perform “One of the Boys.” Seeing Violet transition from discontent to defiance was really satisfying. And Kulhavy had some real swagger, especially during that number.
Mischa: Tromblee went through probably the most dramatic transformation, from her first tentative steps into the workplace after being abandoned to her authoritative rejection of the toxic man who thinks he can get her back (“Get Out and Stay Out”). And her piercing clarity of tone gave her numbers a laser-like intensity.
Kitty: You know who could have used a little more “laser-like intensity”?
Mischa: Who?
Kitty: The men!
Mischa: Far be it from me to try to defend men in the context of a show like this one!
Kitty: Smart move. Dolly would approve. But to my point, the men were definitely side characters in this show – as they should be! That said, their understated portrayals made it kind of difficult to feel strongly about them. Pieper, in particular, came across as less overtly menacing and more somewhat bumbling. Hart was incompetent, to be sure, but more annoying than rage-inducing. And I wanted to feel feminine rage, Mischa.
Mischa: Valid! I suppose Judy’s ex-husband Dick (Maxwell Johnson) was a more malicious, even mustache-twirling kind of a personality. Yet he’s relatively minor in the scope of the whole show.
Kitty: Maybe it’s a testament to the inherent decency of the actors themselves, but they never really seemed like a huge obstacle for the women to overcome. More like a pesky nuisance that was easily dealt with. There was a female villain, though, who made for a great antagonist.
Mischa: Roz (Julie Funk) was a kind of “dark horse” delight for me – the employee who is actually, secretly in love with the boss, and delivers a super-cringey but super-sultry fantasy seduction song, “Heart to Hart,” before being sent off to learn French in the second act.
Kitty: Also, not an antagonist, but definitely deserving of a shout-out is Sara Wegener as the flask-wielding Margaret. Wegener perfectly exemplified how to do character work in an ensemble. She never broke character and was consistently hilarious without ever pulling focus. And Margaret had a nice little redemptive arc, as well.
Mischa: That arc also segued very well into what was my favorite song of the night – “Change It,” which brought the central trio back to celebrate women’s power to change their own circumstances.
Kitty: There were certainly some solid individual elements and performances. But the collective execution felt a little loose, which could've just been a classic case of opening-night jitters.
Mischa: It really did seem as though there were still some kinks that needed to be worked out. Overall, the cast didn’t seem quite ready to hit the ground running at the show's beginning; it took a few numbers for them to really ease into the performance, and even so, energy and pacing sometimes left a little to be desired.
Kitty: Scene transitions also dragged a bit, due in part, I'd imagine, to some large set pieces. Designer Noah Hill's set certainly evoked a very ’70s vibe, but people moving around larger set pieces like desks and bookcases slowed those shifts down. I thought they needed a little more practice to streamline things. There were a couple of technical glitches on Friday, as well, which will hopefully get worked out for subsequent shows.
Mischa: On a more positive note, Courtney Cooper's costumes fit the setting quite well, giving an “exhausted office” look most of the time, and there were really a lot of costumes, including some more glitzy matching outfits used in particular ensemble numbers for a bit of a change of pace.
Kitty: Yes, the overall look of the show was great, and there were definitely some standout individual performances.
Mischa: Agreed!
9 to 5: The Musical runs at the Spotlight Theatre (1800 Seventh Avenue, Moline IL) through February 15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)912-7647 and visiting TheSpotlightTheatreQC.com.
