On their opening night of Dolly Parton’s “9 to 5” (with book by Patricia Resnick) the South Coast Chorale and Arts Society confidently strutted their collective stuff across the expanse of the Victor Harbor Town Hall stage. Director Kimberley Hollitt is chief architect in this undertaking but she has a strong production team at her disposal. With the support of AD Elizabeth Bentley they both collude with choreographer Natalie Stevenson, tasked with calling the moves for quite a large cast in a number of routines. A trio of MDs provided a most effective and nicely modulated musical template for the show to merge within. MD Tim Wormald as leader in the pit called the shots with band members. MD Emma Muhlack was the principal coach for the chorus/ensemble vocals whilst MD Ali Dunbar was prime sounding board for principal cast members. Together they made for a most effective musical marriage.
The core elements of Parton’s musical play have an obvious “Me Too” familiarity and I really need to pay homage to that. The company workplace concerned, operating in the business world of the 1980’s, has as its CEO Franklin Hart, who is an egotistical, misogynistic bully. He is a would be chancer preying on his female staff. His secretary, Roz, blind to Hart’s dark and unpleasant persona, is his only workplace fan. She is besotted with him. The company workplace is both unhappy and unproductive due to appalling and dishonest leadership. Office worker, Maria is discovered salary “snooping”, dobbed in to Hart by secretary Roz and summarily dismissed. Capable employees like Violet and Doralee are side-lined, overlooked and demeaned by the controlling Hart. Along with newly arrived worker Judy the threesome hit upon a plan to reclaim their workplace rights. But only after a couple of misunderstandings are sorted. Their rather crazy plan seems to have a mind of its own and it heads off in a somewhat uncertain and bizarre direction. Will they succeed? Of course they will! It’s a feel good musical melodrama!
Work by the ensemble in both movement and voice was even and effective throughout. I thought the sound was generally OK but maybe some individual mics might need a bit of tweaking? It’s a perennial problem with sound systems but overall Greg Rossiter has wrangled the technology admirably for such a considerable sized cast. Similarly Rossiter has an adequate lighting plot. I detected a few latish cues and the coffee station DSL was underlit a couple of times but for a first night performance all went smoothly enough. Some scene changes were a little slow and clunky but there are many work stations in the typing pool scenes that need to find their places. The look of the office and its effectiveness is excellent as was the choreography in numbers such as “Around Here”.
So to the dramatis personae! Charlie McKeand gives a nice cameo performance as teen Josh, Violet’s well adjusted son with his little personal “stash”. Brodie De Groot as Doralee’s husband Dwayne, sporting large cowboy hat reminds his wife that Texans are not quitters. Harrison Golledge as junior accountant Joe plays his cards with determined yet humble insistence in his pursuit of the older Violet. He voiced a very good duo with her in “Let Love Grow”. A pleasing and promising performance. Georgia Martin’s portrayal as secretary Roz is a nice piece of acting. She reveals her strong feelings for her boss (Hart) in an equally strong delivery of “Heart to Hart”. Martin’s solo “5 to 9” was a highlight for me. There was little doubt as to Franklin Hart’s modus operandi. As Hart, Chris Stevenson, with vocal purpose and physical movement made his intentions loud and clear. There was not a great deal of subtlety on show here. But that was the point. The audience certainly reacted accordingly to Stevenson’s performance. His creepy crawly rendition of “Here for You” was enough to put anybody right off him! His comeuppance was just desserts indeed.
The three lead female characters Judy (Deeon Toogood), Violet (Michele Kelsey) and Doralee (Matilda Boysen) were the very backbone of both the story and the vocals. Their initial trio “I Just Might” was a knockout with its great harmony and splendid vocal projection. Kelsey as Violet sets the scene with a powerful rendition of “Around Here” and outlines her plan for Hart’s “demise” via the delightful “Potion Notion”. Toogood allows her Judy grow in confidence first with her fantasy “Dance O’ Death” and ultimately with her emphatic dismissal of an estranged husband seeking a futile supplication with “Get Out and Stay Out”. For Hart’s attempts to first seduce then blackmail her character (Doralee) Boysen pulls no punches in planning her “Cowgirl’s Revenge”. A big YeeHaa! all round to that!
This ensemble worked a treat in order to make a most successful opening night for SCCAS. I congratulate all the elements that produced the final product that is “9 to 5”, its production team, the cast, the orchestra the crew and the hospitable FOH team. I’m sure you have set your stage for a most successful run.
