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Hello, Dolly! 9 to 5 Books Broadway's Marquis; Full Casting Announced
By Kenneth Jones
15 Jul 2008
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Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney and Megan Hilty
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| photo by Justin Stephens | The Marquis Theatre will be the Broadway home of the feisty office workers who are "just a step on the bossman's ladder" in the Dolly Parton-Patricia Resnick musical comedy 9 to 5, producer Robert Greenblatt announced July 15.
Following a fall run at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles (Sept. 3-Oct. 19, opening Sept. 20), the Joe Mantello-directed production will begin Broadway previews March 24, 2009, and open April 23, 2009.
9 to 5: The Musical, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, has book by original screenwriter Resnick (who also came up with the film's original story) and music and lyrics by country music legend and seven-time Grammy Award winner Dolly Parton, who also starred in the smash 1980 movie.
This marks the Broadway debut of the writers. Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler (In the Heights) will choreograph.
As previously announced, 9 to 5: The Musical will star four-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Allison Janney as Violet, Stephanie J. Block as Judy, Megan Hilty as Dorelee, and two-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch as Mr. Hart. (Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Parton and Dabney Coleman played the respective roles in the movie.)
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Promotional art for 9 to 5
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Here's the plot: "When pushed to their boiling point by their boss, Franklin Hart Jr. (Marc Kudisch), Violet Newstead (Allison Janney), the super efficient office manager, Judy Bernly (Stephanie J. Block), a frazzled divorcee, and the sexy
executive secretary Doralee Rhodes (Megan Hilty) turn the tables on him. The trio hatches a plan to get even with the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot, and that plan quickly spins wildly and hilariously out of control."
Parton's original score for 9 to 5: The Musical will include over 20 new songs as well as the Grammy Award-winning, Academy Award-nominated No. 1 Billboard title song. "Backwoods Barbie," heard on Parton's new album of the same name, is also part of the show's score, Parton previously said.
The 30-member cast of 9 to 5: The Musical features Andy Karl, Kathy Fitzgerald, Ioana Alfonso, Timothy Anderson, Jennifer Balagna, Justin Bohon, Paul Castree, Daniel Cooney, Jeremy Davis, Gaelen Gilliland, Autumn Guzzardi, Ann Harada, Lisa Howard, Van Hughes, Kevin Kern, Brendan King, Michael X. Martin, Michael Mindlin, Karen Murphy, Mark Myars, Jessica Lea Patty, Charlie Pollock, Tory Ross, Wayne Schroder, Maia Nkenge Wilson and Brandi Wooten.
The production will feature scenic design by two-time Tony Award winner Scott Pask, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long, lighting design by eight-time Tony Award winners Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by John Shivers, with musical supervision by Stephen Oremus (Wicked, All Shook Up).
For more information visit www.9to5themusical.com.
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Actress-singer-songwriter-musician Dolly Parton became a star on Porter Wagoner's
syndicated television show in 1967, and they earned two Country Music
Association (CMA) Awards for Duo of the Year. She blossomed into a solo artist, joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 and went on to win CMA Female Vocalist of the Year Honors two years in a row, and eventually Entertainer of the Year. As an actress, her first film was "9 to 5," which brought her an Academy Award nomination for the title song — arguably the most successful hit song of her career.
She has sold more than 100 million records worldwide and won countless awards including eight CMA and seven Grammy Awards. She has taken more than
20 songs to No. 1 including the mega hit "I Will Always Love You" which is
the only song to have topped the charts three times — twice for Parton (1973
and 1982) and once for Whitney Houston (1992).
Her movie acting credits include "The Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas," "Rhinestone," "Steel Magnolias" and "Straight Talk." She was also nominated for an Academy Award that year for her hit song "Travelin' Thru" written for the movie "Transamerica." She continues to tour and release albums, flirting with pop, country, bluegrass and blues.
Janney is widely known for playing CJ Cregg on TV's "The West Wing," for which she won four SAG Awards and four Emmys. She also earned Golden Globe nominations four years in a row. On Broadway, she played Beatrice in Arthur Miller's A View from the Bridge, opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which brought
her a Tony nomination and both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk
Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She played Prudy Pingleton in the screen musical "Hairspray," and was the sympathetic parent in the smash film "Juno."
Block's Broadway credits include Elphaba in Wicked (also originating the role of Elphaba in the national touring company - 2006 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Lead Actress). Other Broadway credits include Grace O'Malley in The Pirate Queen, Liza Minnelli
in The Boy From Oz.
Hilty made her Broadway debut as Glinda in Wicked and just concluded a run in that role in the Los Angeles production. She is a recent graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama.
Kudisch recently stared in Lincoln Center Theater's The Glorious Ones. Broadway credits include The Apple Tree, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Tony and Outer Critics nominations), Assassins
(Drama Desk nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony, Drama Desk,
Outer Critics Circle nominations), Bells Are Ringing, The Wild Party, The Scarlet Pimpernel, High Society, Beauty and the Beast and
Joseph...Dreamcoat. Off-Broadway credits include See What I Wanna See (Drama Desk nomination), No Strings and The Thing About Men. Recent
regional appearances include The Witches of Eastwick (2008 Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a musical), The Highest Yellow (Helen
Hayes nomination, Signature Theatre, DC), Zorba (Ovation, L.A. Drama Critics Circle nominations, Garland Award, Reprise!), Summer and Smoke (Hartford Stage).
Book writer Resnick wrote the original screenplay for the film "9 to 5." Under the guidance of her mentor Robert Altman, she co-authored "A Wedding" (British Academy Award and Writer's Guild nominations) and "Quintet," starring Paul Newman. Other
films include "Maxie" (with Glenn Close) and "Straight Talk," which reunited her with Dolly Parton. She has written numerous pilots and films for television, most recently "The Battle of Mary Kay" starring Shirley MacLaine and Parker Posey. She is currently executive producer and head writer of a 26-episode
series based on the children's book "Olivia" for the Nick Jr., to air in 2009. Her theatre work includes sketches for Lily Tomlin's first one-woman Broadway show, Appearing Nightly, and a stage musical adaptation of her own PBS movie, Ladies in Waiting, which originated at the Woodstock (Illinois) Summer Playhouse and later moved to the Lyric Opera House in Chicago.
A two-time Tony Award-winner, Mantello is currently represented on Broadway (and around the world) with Wicked. His first Tony Award was for directing Richard
Greenberg's acclaimed Take Me Out and his second was for the revival of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. His
other high-profile shows include Three Days of Rain, The
Odd Couple, Glengarry Glen Ross, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Laugh Whore (which was also filmed for Showtime), A Man of No
Importance, Design for Living, Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking for San Francisco Opera, The Vagina Monologues, bash,
Another American: Asking and Telling, Love! Valour! Compassion! (stage
and film), Proposals, The Mineola Twins, Corpus Christi,
Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, Blue Window, God's Heart, The
Santaland Diaries, Lillian, Snakebit, Three Hotels, Imagining Brad and Fat Men in Skirts.
In the 2007-2008 season Mantello directed the revival of Terrence
McNally's The Ritz and David Mamet's new play November. He is directing the fall 2008 revival of Pal Joey. Mantello began his
career as an actor and starred on Broadway (and at CTG/Mark Taper Forum) in Tony Kushner's Angels in America (Tony nomination) and Off-Broadway in The Baltimore Waltz.
Producer Greenblatt is currently
president of entertainment for Showtime Networks Inc. where he is
responsible for programming development, acquisitions, and scheduling of all Showtime channels. Current original series hits include "Weeds," "Dexter," "The Tudors," "Californication," "The L Word," "Brotherhood," "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," "This American Life," "Penn & Teller: Bullshit!" and Tracey Ullman's "State of the Union."
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9 to 5 gals: Stephanie J. Block, Allison Janney, Dolly Parton and Megan Hilty.
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| photo by Justin Stephens |
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