Bad Night in the Steno Pool
‘9 to 5’ needs a lot of overtime
By Don Shirley
Producers who yearn to generate a new revenue stream from an old movie often try turning it into a stage musical. But sometimes the barriers in the streambed are formidable. Take a look at 9 to 5, at the Ahmanson Theatre.
It isn’t just that the show’s technical aspects weren’t ready for the glittery opening last Saturday – to such an extent that the first act had to be interrupted by a lengthy pause. Actually, the audience enjoyed the interruption, because the show’s composer, Dolly Parton, filled much of the awkward gap with an impromptu round of singing and ad-libbing from her position in the audience.
No, the bigger rocks are in the script’s transition from screen to stage. The author is Patricia Resnick, who also got story credit on the 1980 movie and co-wrote the screenplay with the movie’s director Colin Higgins. An article in the musical’s printed program concludes with these words from Resnick: “A writer always thinks, ‘I could have made this better.’ Now I’m getting the chance.”
Lucky Resnick – she’ll continue getting that chance, because the script needs wholesale improvements before its scheduled Broadway opening next year.
The movie is usually remembered as a feminist comedy, but it was also a caper comedy. In an elaborately plotted sequence, the three corporate-exploited protagonists – played in the original by Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda – confuse coffee sweetener and rat poison, schlep a misidentified corpse in the trunk of a car, kidnap their boss, confine him in leather and chains, and generally behave in a way that owes more to the conventions of commercial movie comedy than to the theme of feminism in the workplace.
These hijinks seemed somewhat strained in the movie, but they’re much worse in the musical, which isn’t the best vessel for caper comedy. Although it’s still set in the original period, the musical adds a lot of other components – Parton’s songs, jittery dance sequences, elaborate projections as well as sets, and a half-baked romance for the Tomlin character (now played by Allison Janney) with a younger accountant (Andy Karl). When the movie’s slapsticky elements are not only retained but made even less credible in some respects, a lot of clutter gathers.
Other plot points also are steps backward from the screenplay. For example, the office newbie (Stephanie J. Block) is now given a typing test after she’s hired – and she doesn’t even know to put paper in the typewriter. She’s a total incompetent – only a day or two before she completely transforms into a corporate guerrilla. And surely it isn’t necessary to have the hated boss (Marc Kudisch) stumble into the women’s room by mistake as part of all that intricate plotting.
The musical should be a splendid opportunity to build the characters and themes and drop some of the more outlandish elements of the story. Some of Parton’s songs accomplish some of this characterization building, even if on a predictable level – the office spy (Kathy Fitzgerald) gets to explicitly confess her hidden passions for the boss. But this effort could use more help from Resnick.
The casting and performances are excellent, including Megan Hilty in Parton’s secretary role. Hilty, Block, director Joe Mantello, and others are veterans of Wicked, that other feminist musical across town. There is a brief, winking reference to a Wicked lyric, and even a scenic resemblance in Block’s big second-act solo. But the Wicked script and score are 9 to 5 times more imaginative and sophisticated than 9 to 5’s.
Wicked also had its bumps along the yellow brick road to Broadway, so maybe 9 to 5 can recover. It’ll be interesting to see if it improves even in its L.A. tryout. But at this point 9 to 5 needs a heavy-duty, script-rewriting dredge.
9 to 5, Ahmanson Theatre, Music Center, downtown L.A., (213) 628-2772. CenterTheatreGroup.org. Closes Oct. 19.
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Published: 09/24/2008
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