Producer Robert Greenblatt announced today that 9 To 5: The Musical, based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, will begin previews on Broadway Tuesday, March 24, 2009, and will open Thursday, April 23, 2009, at the Marriott Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). 9 To 5: The Musical marks the Broadway debut of seven-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter and musician Dolly Parton as composer and lyricist. The musical's book by Patricia Resnick is based on her original story and screenplay for the smash 1980 film comedy. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello and choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 To 5: The Musical will star four-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee Allison Janney,Stephanie J. Block,Megan Hilty, and two-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch. 9 To 5: The Musical will have its world premiere engagement in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre beginning previews Wednesday, September 3, opening Saturday, September 20, and playing through Sunday, October 19, 2008.
The production features 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.
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. Ms. Parton's original score for
9 To 5: The Musical includes over twenty new songs as well as the Grammy Award winning, Academy Award nominated, and #1 Billboard title song.
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.
For more information visit www.9to5themusical.com
Biographies - Cast
Allison Janney (Violet Newstead). Displaying astonishing versatility with a wide range of roles in film, television and theatre, one of
Allison Janney's most memorable Broadway performances was 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 also starred in the New York
Public Theater's production of Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park and in the
Williamstown Theatre Festival's production of
Lillian Hellman's The Autumn Garden. She is proud to have studied acting at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse upon the advice of
Paul Newman and
JoAnne Woodward. Equally at home on film, Ms. Janney appeared recently as Prudy Pingleton in the blockbuster screen version of the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical
Hairspray, and in
Jason Reitman's Academy Award winning ensemble dramedy Juno. Ms. Janney received a 2006 Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Our Very Own (Los Angeles Film Festival premiere). She starred opposite
Meryl Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and in the Academy Award-winning film American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture). Her long list of feature films also includes Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10 Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Celebrity, Six Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection and Big Night. Additionally she was heard as the voice of Gladys in the animated comedy Over the Hedge and as Peach in Finding Nemo. No stranger to television, audiences and critics alike loved her in the role of CJ Cregg in the award-winning NBC series "The West Wing." She won a remarkable four SAG Awards and four Emmys for her work on the series. She also earned Golden Globe nominations four years in a row.
Stephanie J. Block (Judy Bernly). 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. Regional credits include Funny Girl (Robby Award, Best Actress), Crazy for You (Ovation Award nominee), Oliver! (Critics Award, Best Actress), and
James Joyce's The Dead (CTG/
Ahmanson Theatre and Kennedy Center). Her voice can be heard on numerous CDs and commercial jingles.
Megan Hilty (Doralee Rhodes) 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. Credits include Café (City Theatre), Suds (OCT) and The Wild Party (CMU). Megan is a recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Award for Excellence in Musical Theater.
Marc Kudisch (Franklin Hart Jr.) 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, D.C.), Zorba (Ovation, L.A. Drama Critics Circle nominations, Garland Award, Reprise!), Summer and Smoke (Hartford Stage). TV appearances include "Break In" (Lifetime), "Bye Bye Birdie" (ABC TV), and "Sex and the City."
Biographies - Creative Team
Dolly Parton (Composer and Lyricist). Ms. Parton is not only the reigning queen of country music but an iconic songwriter, musician, actress and entrepreneur as well. In 1967 she became a star on Porter Wagoner's syndicated television show for which they would claim two Country Music Association (CMA) Awards for Duo of the Year. Quickly finding her wings as a solo artist, she 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. And then came Hollywood. Her very first film was 9 to 5 which brought her an Academy Award nomination as well as perhaps the most successful hit song of her career. She went on to star in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk. And a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame seemed inevitable. 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 Dolly (1973 and 1982) and once for
Whitney Houston (1992). In 1999, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and was awarded the Kennedy Center Honor in 2006. 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 extensively and release albums at a prolific rate, displaying her immense versatility in pop, country, bluegrass and blues. Dolly is also proud to be a successful author and creator of the Imagination Library which provides books to pre-school children. It currently operates in all 95 counties in Tennessee and has expanded into 700 communities in 45 states and Canada. It currently serves over 400,000 children and in 2007 will mail out 4.4 million books (bringing the total to 11 million since its inception). And last but not least, Dollywood - her very own theme park - flourishes in Tennessee.
Patricia Resnick (Book). Ms. Resnick has enjoyed a successful and varied career in film, television and theatre. She wrote the original screenplay for the film 9 to 5, a comedy classic. Under the tutelage 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 (
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 who both gave Golden Globe-nominated performances. She wrote (Cable Ace Award) and directed (Ace nomination) a short film, Grandpa's Funeral. She is currently executive producer and head writer of a 26-episode series based on Caldecott Honor's children's book "Olivia" for the Nick Jr. network, 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. Ms. Resnick resides in Los Angeles with her two children, three dogs, two cats, some fish and any strays who happen to wander in.
Joe Mantello (Director). One would be hard-pressed to find a busier or more accomplished director working on Broadway today. A two-time Tony Award-winner, Mr. Mantello is currently represented on Broadway (and around the world) with
Wicked, a show that will likely become the most successful musical in history. 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. Equally at home with musicals or plays, his other high-profile shows include Three Days of Rain (
Julia Roberts), 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. For the 2007-2008 season he directed the revival of
Terrence McNally's The Ritz and
David Mamet's new play November. He is directing this season's much anticipated revival of
Pal Joey. Mr. 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. He is a member of
Naked Angels and an associate artist at the Roundabout.
Robert Greenblatt (Producer)
Robert 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." New series for the coming season include
Diablo Cody's "United States of Tara," starring
Toni Collette and produced by
Steven Spielberg. A project starring
Edie Falco has just completed production, and a pilot created by
Tim Robbins goes into production in the fall of 2008. Prior to Showtime, Greenblatt was an award-winning producer of over a dozen series on various networks including "Six Feet Under," for which he was awarded the 2002 Golden Globe for Best Television Drama Series. This show garnered dozens of Emmy nominations including four for Best Drama, and it won Greenblatt the 2003 Producers Guild Award, three GLAAD Media Awards, and the Peabody Award. He also produced two mini-series, "Elvis" (starring Golden Globe winner Jonathan Rhys Meyers) and two installments of Gregory Nava's "American Family" for PBS. Prior to producing, Greenblatt was Executive Vice President of Prime Time Programming for the Fox Broadcasting Company where he developed such seminal hits as "
Beverly Hills, 90210;" "Melrose Place;" "The X-Files;" "Party of Five;" "Ally McBeal" and "King of the Hill," in addition to the pilots for "The Sopranos" and "Dawson's Creek."
Andy Blankenbuehler (Choreographer). Mr. Blankenbuehler won a 2008 Tony Award for his choreography in the Tony Award winning Best Musical In The Heights (also Lortel Award, Outer Critics Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography). He also choreographed the Broadway revival of The Apple Tree. Other recent projects include the new Broadway-bound musical Waiting For The Moon (music by
Frank Wildhorn); the world premiere of the musical A Little Princess (music by
Andrew Lippa); the
Paper Mill Playhouse production of A Wonderful Life; as well as the off-Broadway play Burleigh Grimes (music by
David Yazbek); and the hit Caesars Palace production Nights On Broadway. As a performer, he has danced on Broadway in Fosse, Contact, Man of La Mancha, Saturday Night Fever, Steel Pier, Big and Guys and Dolls.
Scott Pask (Set Designer). Mr. Pask is one of the most respected designers working in theatre and opera today. Most recently he designed the Roundabout's Broadway revival of The Ritz, the new Mamet play, November (both directed by
Joe Mantello, his frequent collaborator), and the new musical Cry-Baby. He won a Tony, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk Awards for his scenic design for Lincoln Center's production of
Tom Stoppard trilogy The Coast of Utopia. Later in 2008, his design for the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Peter Grimes will have its premiere. Among his many additional Broadway credits are The Pillowman (Tony Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Vertical Hour, The Lieutenant of Inishmore,
Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, The Wedding Singer (Drama Desk nomination),
Sweet Charity (Drama Desk nomination), La Cage Aux Folles, Urinetown, Take Me Out (Drama Desk nomination), Little Shop of Horrors, Nine (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway, and Amour (Drama Desk nomination). Mr. Pask also designed Blackbird (Drama Desk nomination), Pig Farm (Roundabout), Kaos (N.Y. Theatre Workshop), Lovesong (West End), On an Average Day (West End), Tales from Hollywood (
Donmar Warehouse), bash (Almeida Theatre, N.Y., L.A.), The Mineola Twins, Albert Herring (
Opera North, U.K.), The Underpants, The Bomb-itty of Errors, The Donkey Show, Slanguage, The Gimmick, Love's Fowl, The Beginning of August and Refuge.
William Ivey Long (Costume Designer)
Mr. Long has designed the costumes for 58 Broadway productions and has been nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning five times.
Mr. Long is currently represented on Broadway by
Young Frankenstein,
Hairspray (Tony Award) and Chicago. Previous Broadway credits include The Producers (Tony Award), Curtains,
Grey Gardens (Tony Award), The Ritz, Losing Louie,
Sweet Charity, Twentieth Century, 1776, The Music Man, Smokey Joe's Café, Steel Pier, Company, Picnic, Cabaret, La Cage Aux Folles, The Frogs, Little Shop of Horrors, The Boy From Oz, Contact, The Music Man, Crazy for You (Tony Award), Guys and Dolls, Lend Me a Tenor, and Nine (Tony Award). He is also designing the costumes for this season's revival of
Pal Joey. In January 2006, he was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
Jules Fisher and
Peggy Eisenhauer (Lighting Designers).
Mr. Fisher and Ms. Eisenhauer have collectively been awarded Broadway's Tony Award for Best Lighting Design eight times, including
Stephen Sondheim's Assassins (revival); Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk; Jelly's Last Jam; The
Will Rogers Follies; Grand Hotel;
Bob Fosse's
Dancin'; Pippin; and Ulysses in Nighttown. Together, they have been honored with nearly 30 Tony Award nominations. Their inventive lighting designs for Broadway include The Ritz;
Chita Rivera: The Dancer's Life; Caroline, or Change;
Gypsy; Jane Eyre; The Wild Party; Cabaret; Ragtime; Victor/Victoria; Angels in America; and Fosse's Big Deal in 1985, their first collaboration. For motion pictures, Fisher and Eisenhauer designed theatrical lighting for
Rob Marshall's Chicago,
Mel Brooks' The Producers, Richard Linklater's School of Rock and
Bill Condon's Dreamgirls. Their studio, Third Eye, conceives and designs lighting for all forms of entertainment.
Stephen Oremus (Musical Supervisor) Music supervisor/arranger of
Wicked; music supervisor/vocal arranger/orchestrator of
Avenue Q; music supervisor/vocal arranger/co-orchestrator of All Shook Up; vocal arranger of High Fidelity. Off-Broadway: music supervisor/vocal arranger/orchestrator of tick, tick…BOOM!; music director of
Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party at Manhattan Theatre Club and
Rent (national tour). Music director/conductor for
Rufus Wainwright (singing
Judy Garland's famous concert) at
Carnegie Hall; the Palladium, London; and L'Olympia, Paris. Music director and arranger of Broadway Meets Country in New York and Nashville. Music Supervisor/vocal arranger of Signed Sealed Delivered: The Music of
Stevie Wonder starring Chaka Kahn (Las Vegas). Graduate of Berklee College of Music, Boston.
John Shivers (Sound Designer) Broadway sound design credits include
The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, In My Life,
Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays,
Julia Sweeney's God Said "Ha!" He is also credited as the associate sound designer for Broadway and worldwide productions of
Mary Poppins,
The Lion King, The Producers,
Hairspray,
Elton John and
Tim Rice's Aida, Titanic, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Big, The Who's Tommy, Guys and Dolls and The
Buddy Holly Story. Other credits include work on various productions with Ace,
Savion Glover,
Dionne Warwick and
Burt Bacharach and
Gregory Hines. John is married to singer/songwriter
Catherine Porter with whom he has a daughter, Ruby.
Photo Credit Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.
