9 to 5: The Musical

Dolly Parton spent many years bringing the screenplay of 9 to 5 to the stage and for a while, during the first half, I was wondering what format she had been going for as somehow, it just didn't hang together as a musical. Each of the parts, singing, dancing, staging, acting, was working well but they just didn't seem to gel. I worked it out in the end, each of the 'numbers' seemed to stand alone, like the strange routines that we used to have in the middle of Morecambe and Wise or The Two Ronnies, rather than flowing in and out of the piece. But then, as this is (necessarily) set firmly in the late 1970s, perhaps that was intentional. Whatever, I don't think the audience minded and, to be honest, it only niggled at the back of my head for a while as this is just a fun evening out.

The performances of the main characters, Jackie Clune (Violet), Natalie Casey (Judy), Amy Lennox (Doralee) and Mark Moraghan (Franklin) were spot on, echoing but not slavishly following the film and providing a good deal of humour. Dolly herself appears in projected form as narrator and commentator which works a lot better than I thought it would, probably because she always comes over with such enthusiasm. Bonnie Langford (Roz), bless her, brings an enthusiasm, energy and timing to the stage that simply lights it up - a fabulous performance. In fact the whole cast, whether backing a number of covering a set change, work with huge energy to sell the show to you ... 

The auditorium was packed and the show was received with great enthusiasm, this is a great, feel good and funny night out ... as Dolly says at the end, if you enjoyed the show tell your friends, if you didn't keep it zipped ... I'm sure that theatres will remain filled with friends for every night of its tour.