Never has the Fox Theatre stage been as busy as it was last night, and while the cast of "9 to 5" contributed some of it as actors and dancers, they contributed far more pushing, pulling, tugging and turning desks, file cabinets, cubicles, flats and anything else that could be built on wheels. Upstage went the desks, downstage went the file cabinets. Back and forth, from stage right to stage left and back again they raced, looking for all the world like traffic on Grand Boulevard, outside the theater, when the light changes.
I was reminded of the classic English farce, "Noises Off," when the maid, Dottie Ottley, suddenly runs off stage and comes roaring back carrying a can of sardines. "Getting the sardines on! Getting the sardines off! That's farce, that's theater, that's life!" she exclaims.
Frenzy. That's the word.
"9 to 5," based on the 1980 movie that starred Lily Tomlin (Violet), Jane Fonda (Judy) and Dolly Parton (Doralee), more-or-less follows the film, which was rather lightweight stuff. Parton, who composed the title song for the movie, puts it to work in the stage musical, for which she wrote music and lyrics. Patricia Resnick, who wrote the story that was the base for the movie, wrote the book for the current show.
The charming, supple, always-a-treat Dee Hoty is Violet. Hoty has visited St. Louis many times in many productions, never fails to be first-rate. She's the ringleader, secretary to Franklin Hart Jr. (Dabney Coleman on screen; the excellent Joseph Mahowald at the Fox), an angry widow furious with being passed over for promotion, fed up with being degraded professionally. Her "One of the Boys" was a delight.
Diana DeGarmo and Mamie Parris are Doralee and Judy, respectively, and handle the roles properly, with DeGarmo properly brash and buxom, Parris displaying the best voice among the women but far too loud on a few occasions. DeGarmo's "Backwoods Barbie," who describes her caricature as "too much hair and too much makeup," is accused of loose morals because of tight dresses, but that's been a problem for women since they began wearing dresses.
Kristine Zbornik is outstanding as Roz, who loves (and lusts after) Hart, but Mahowald, who shows comic power, a fine voice and the ability to hang from ropes, isn't interested. Jane Blass draws regular laughs as Margaret, who like the famous Miss Reardon, "drinks a little," and a little more. and a little more after that, but she avoids falling down and draws laughs. Gregg Goodbrod is Joe, an accountant who is trying to connect with Violet, but given her level of sophistication, his chances would be better if he's drop the country drawl when he sings to her.
Kenneth Foy's scenic design, with many pictures of those who were famous in the '60s and '70s, allows for "who's that?" games before the curtain and during intermission, but the desks and things rarely stop moving long enough to admire them. The veteran William Ivey Long designed the costumes.
And another local girl makes good. Marjorie Failoni, who grew up here and made her debut at the Muny as one of the orphans in "Annie," is the dance captain. "9 to 5" is pleasant, if unmemorable, and a good way to spend a winter evening.
9 to 5 will be at the Fox Theatre through Feb. 20
—Joe