Dolly Parton’s ‘9 to 5’ at the Walnut

Dolly Parton’s 2009 musical adaptation contains more mainstream Broadway ballads, wistful melodies, and power anthems than twangy country songs. Nevertheless, upon its Broadway opening, it lasted less than six months after Big Apple sophisticates judged it gaudy and shallow. Yet the Walnut’s current production reveals 9 to 5 as a likeable show. At least three songwriters with pop-chart fame (Parton, Bono, and Cindy Lauper) have tried composing scores for Broadway recently, and Parton has done the best job of creating a varied score that can appeal to a broad range of audiences.

This production unfolds as a goofy fantasy, not to be taken seriously. (When the gals take charge, they redecorate the office with telephones and desks in blue and shocking pink.) Paul Schoeffler plays boss Franklin Hart with over-the-top broad strokes, and we’re encouraged to laugh at him rather than hate the “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.” Some audience members will probably adore him, much like his frumpy older secretary Roz (the hilarious Mary Martello).

Marijuana dream

An overlong first act lays out the plot with more detail than we need. A romance blooms between the middle-aged office manager (the wry Dee Hoty) and Joe, a junior accountant who has a crush on her. This overly sentimental subplot provides an excuse to display the charm and sweet singing voice of the Philadelphia favorite Ben Dibble. (Another subplot reveals that the boss has been embezzling from the company, yet in the latter part of the show, this stealing is mysteriously abandoned in an apparent rush to wrap things up.)

Act II includes marijuana-induced dream sequences that give each of the principal ladies a showstopper number. Parton herself appears in prerecorded speeches introducing the show and then summarizing just before the final song— her composition that was the movie’s title track.

The cast is exceptional. Hoty, as the strong-willed widow, projects authority and businesslike shrewdness with a strong singing voice. Amy Bodnar, embodying Parton’s screen role, upsets our conventional stereotypes of blonde bombshells. And Amanda Rose is revelatory as the shy divorcée who learns to be assertive, belting the powerful “Get Out and Stay Out” to her ex-husband when he comes crawling back to her after being jilted by his young secretary.

Beyond bathroom jokes

Fran Prisco, as Rose’s ex, is strongly supportive in a role that’s different from anything else I’ve seen him in. And Martello has a stunning showpiece in “Heart to Hart,” when she reveals the sex-starved woman beneath her frumpy exterior.

As directed by Bruce Lumpkin, this production eliminates some of the crudities in the Broadway production, like women’s bathroom stalls, a topless female dancer, and men standing at urinals. The result is mostly clean good fun.