I won tickets! I love tickets! So Matt and I went to dinner together and then down to West Valley City to the Hale Center Theater to see the play "9 to 5" based off the movie made in 1979 (if I remember correctly). After a brief introduction from the cast, they played a small video of Dolly Parton telling us to enjoy the show. I thought that was a nice touch!
In case you never saw the movie, here's a brief synopsis. The story takes place in an office scenario in the late 1970's when women were paid less than men and women were not advanced in the work place because it was a "man's world." The big boss, Mr. Hart, is basically a chauvinistic pig, having affairs with his secretary while his sweet wife is begging him for attention and time. His current secretary is happily married and dodging his advances, while one of the other secretaries secretly adores him. The ladies in the office are tired of his belittling them and so they do something about it. I must stop here, or I'll spoil the show!
Did I mention this play is a musical? Holy Cow they cast some amazing voices and great character look a-likes to the movie. The acting was so well done that a couple of the songs really were emotionally touching. The character was so involved in playing the role that you could feel the intensity of the situation through their music. The talent and vocals were truly fantastic!
The director added some excellent personal touches to the storyline for comedic effect. I must say there were several spots that really got me laughing. I also really like the prop changes. Some came down from the ceiling, while others were whirled out through attachment to the stage somehow. The center of the floor did all sorts of cool stuff, too. There was rarely a need for stage crew to move props around, which is a nice touch.
I felt like there was one loose end that was not neatly tied at the end of the show. At one point Violet's son comes to visit his mom at the office. He is told that she's in the break room. Scene changes to the break room where you see Violet, who is one of the main characters, with a guy from the office who has been trying to get her to go out with them. It's a great scene, but they never tell you why Violet's son came to the office and he doesn't enter in the break room scene. When discussing this with Matt, his thoughts were that they just want to show that Violet's son is concerned that his mom is spending too much time at work and he hasn't seen her much, which makes sense with the storyline.
I give this play 4.5 out of 5 stars! It is very well done, is fast moving, and the acting is awesome. I highly recommend it to anyone to go see! While the storyline is a difficult topic, there are no distasteful scenes that would make it inappropriate for children; however, I do believe the theater has an 8 years and up rule. You'll want to check on that before you buy tickets! It's was a great date night show to see with my sweet husband. And in case you wanted to know, the cookies the theater sells are delicious!
