9 To 5 (musical) - Critical Response

Critical Response

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles try-outs received mixed reviews from critics. Variety praised the three female leads but suggested cutting act one: "Giant production numbers lose sight of character and quickly wear out their welcome." Further, the review praised the choreography, design, and Parton's music, saying that the "score mostly achieves its intended goals of variety, build and likability, at its best nailing character with images as resonant as the title tune's 'Pour myself a cup of ambition.'" The review noted: "Joe Mantello consistently indulges business in dubious taste." The Theatremania.com review, while praising the choreography, costumes, set and performances of the female leads, concluded that "ultimately, the whole enterprise lacks the freshness it needs to make it a truly first-rate musical." The Ventura County Star praised the director and choreographer, "along with music director Stephen Oremus, whose arrangements add to the texture of the show... the classy Allison Janney and two actor-songbirds, Megan Hilty and Stephanie J. Block, who carry the delightful burden of keeping the faith with much more of Parton's energizing, warmhearted way with words and music". The Orange County Register praised the three female leads but wrote that "this production is more tricked out than it needs to be. Director Joe Mantello and his creative team have spent a great deal of time and energy turning a modest story about office politics into a bells-and-whistles Broadway show".

Broadway

Following the Broadway opening, Ben Brantley of the New York Times described the show as an "overinflated whoopee cushion" and a "gaudy, empty musical" that "piles on the flashy accessories like a prerecession hedge funder run amok at Barney’s." He thought the stage adaptation turns its "feminist revenge story into an occasion for lewd slapstick (which feels about as up-to-date as the 1940s burlesque revue Hellzapoppin) and a mail-order catalog of big production numbers, filtered through that joyless aesthetic that pervaded the 1970s." He added, "The comic sensibility certainly feels vintage, rather in the smirky mode of sitcoms like Three's Company. The governing philosophy seems to be that it’s O.K. to leer if you wink at your own prurience... That’s true of much of the show. Its broad flirtation with tastelessness reminds you of how stylishly Mel Brooks played with brazen vulgarity in The Producers."

In the New York Daily News, Joe Dziemianowicz rated the production three out of five stars. He thought the "bouncy, big-hearted songs" were "fresh and original," although "Not every tune is a home run, and some lyrics are too plain-spoken. But enough of them stand out." He thought the creative team "has struggled to open the show up for the stage." In conclusion he said, "Is 9 to 5 as hip as TV's The Office or as joyously hit-filled as How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying? No, but if you're looking for a little diversion, it will do the trick from 8 to 10:15."

Linda Winer of Newsday called it "lavish and harmless entertainment... with a shiny-colored and efficient score" and said "the squarely old-fashioned show fills a tourist-ready Hollywood slot left vacant by Legally Blonde and Hairspray. The thing feels less created than assembled from recycled musical-comedy components, but Broadway doesn't have one of these right now, and summer approaches."

Writing for the New York Post, Elizabeth Vincentelli rated the show three out of four stars and called it "goofily entertaining." About Dolly Parton she said, "It shouldn't surprise anybody she's taken so well to the stage: She's always been a storyteller first and foremost. Her countrified pop, enhanced by fiddle and pedal-steel guitar, fits perfectly on Broadway. Of all the mainstream artists who've tried their hand at show music in the past few years, she may be the most convincing."

Variety critic David Rooney thought that, although the material showcasing the female leads "is an uneven cut-and-paste job that struggles to recapture the movie's giddy estrogen rush, plenty of folks will nonetheless find this a nostalgic crowd-pleaser." He continued, "As composer-lyricist of the country-flavored pop score, Parton is a significant presence... not just in the evergreen title tune but particularly in a handful of new songs... reveal the songwriter's authentic personality," and concluded, "The pleasures of 9 to 5 are less guilty, but they're also less satisfying than they should be. The promising material and terrific performers are too often sold short by clumsy story-building, overwhelming sets and unfocused direction."

Ed Pilkington of The Guardian called the stage adaptation "a triumph" and praised Parton, describing her as "the real star of the show" and adding, "She is not on stage, but her presence fills it. She has composed a set of songs, accompanied with her own lyrics, that complement the original song. The greatest triumph of the night was that the film has been reinvented as a musical so successfully. It seemed improbable, given the cult status of the movie, but the stage show has met it and raised it, rather than being its pale imitation."