80's Nine to Five Movie as a Musical at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster
March 01, 2024 |
| Fulton Theatre's 9 to 5 opens at 8pm tonight (March 1, 2024)...went for the preview last night |
Happy New Month Beautiful People,
And happy First Friday to everyone in Lancaster.
If you are looking for things to do this evening, or in March, I recommend checking out Fulton Theatre's 9 to 5, a new show that will officially open this evening (read my experiences at Fulton Theatre's last two Mainstage Shows - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and It happened in Key West).
I opted to attend the Preview event last night because I am helping out at a First Friday gig today.
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| The Preview Night Ticket Queue for Fulton Theatre's 9 to 5 musical |
Fulton Theatre’s Preview Nights
In this previous post about Fulton Theatre, I mentioned that Preview Night, also known as pay what you want, is the night before opening night when the cast gets to do the whole show in front of an audience for the first time.
In this previous post about Fulton Theatre, I mentioned that Preview Night, also known as pay what you want, is the night before opening night when the cast gets to do the whole show in front of an audience for the first time.
Loosely put, Preview Night is open rehearsals that has the audience tipping in advance.
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| After the queue outside, we have to go one at at time to the box office window...admiring the ceiling as I wait for my turn to buy a ticket |
...and key pay what you want guidelines are
1) tickets can only be gotten at the theatre (normal tickets are available at the theatre and online),
2) there is a limit of 4 tickets per person,
3) you pay whatever you want for the ticket
4) sales start at 4pm.
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| My $1 ticket...now to wait for 7.30pm for the show |
I got off the bus from school near the Fulton Theatre a few minutes to 4pm and was hoping to rush to an ATM to get cash. When I saw the queue, I decided not to take the risk of going to an ATM only to find an even longer queue, so I used the only cash I had - a dollar.
As someone who used to curate and host her own monthly poetry nights, it sometimes feels like cheating to pay very little for a full show...but I paid the dollar. Then went home to eat and do assignments as I waited for 7.15pm (I live near the theatre, so I can easily walk down and be seated by the 7.30pm start time).
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| Took this just before the show started- Fulton Theatre, Lancaster PA |
9 to 5 at The Fulton Theatre
I mentioned listening to country music while on road trips with my dad on this post...well you cannot love that type of music without having some Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in the mix. When I heard about this play, and the relation to Dolly Parton, I really wanted to see Fulton’s interpretation of Dolly Parton (even though she was just a character).
I mentioned listening to country music while on road trips with my dad on this post...well you cannot love that type of music without having some Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers in the mix. When I heard about this play, and the relation to Dolly Parton, I really wanted to see Fulton’s interpretation of Dolly Parton (even though she was just a character).
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| Do not have a Dolly Parton Vinyl...but where there is Dolly Parton, there is Kenny Rogers, so I am halfway there. |
It is based on a 1980 film with the same name (I am yet to watch it) that Dolly Parton stars in, plus she did the theme song - (find it at the end of this post).
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| Interview with Fulton Theatre's 9 to 5 lead characters in the local paper |
The show is set in New York and Fulton Theatre does an amazing job with the graphics to make us feel like we are on the 17th floor of some high-rise building.
Through the show, we explore the theme of women in the workplace, and society. We learn about the private lives of the women, why they are in the workplace, the challenges they face in the workplace, and things they can achieve if some of those obstacles are removed.
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| Shout out to the lady at the Fulton Theatre box office for buzzing me into the installment space to take these pictures before the show opened |
As the show starts, we meet Judy, a recently divorced housewife who has to work after her husband left her for a younger woman. It is Judy’s first day on the job and she has no clue how anything works.
Her trainer is Violet, a widower with a teenage son, who has been with Consolidated for over a decade.
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| 9 to 5 Installment 1/5 at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
We also meet Doralee, Dolly Parton plays her in the 1980 movie, who everyone assumes is having a relationship with the boss (we later learn that they are not, but the boss is obsessed with her and has been spreading those rumours about them).
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| Violet and Roz (in glasses) - Image from Fulton Theatre's FB |
I hope Fulton Theatre posts her parts online because I want to relive those moments over and over again. Whoever did her hair and look did an amazing job - they literally brought that character to life.
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| 9 to 5 Installment 2/5 at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
Everyone else had the 80s look and it felt like I was in a vintage store and wanted to grab all their clothing…that is my way of saying, shout out to the costume department (and I also loved the bag Doralee had - I am tempted to write to the Fulton to ask where they got it, and if it will be up for sale).
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| 9 to 5 Installment 3/5 at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
The guy who played Hart suited the part and theme of the play, he had that stereotypical American football frat boy look and vibe to him. Before the show’s theme dawned on, I was about to switch off because of his character's sexist remarks.
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| The top guy at Consolidate Company, Mr Franklin Hart - Image from Fulton Theatre's FB |
As mentioned, I have not watched the movie (will update this post with my comments when I watch it), but I think the Roz character’s helped in ‘releasing the anger’ the sexist and oppressive parts stirred up.
At times, even as an art lover and creator, it is easy to forget the role art plays, and get caught up in what is ‘right vs wrong’ based on the times we live in.
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| The moment Violet walks into Mr Hart's office only to learn that she had not gotten the promotion and it had been given to someone she had trained (a man) - Image from Fulton Theatre's FB |
I had to catch myself at the beginning and remind myself, this is based on back in the day and back then (and to some extent, in this day and age) women had to fight for their place in the office, and in society. YES, it reminded me of my feminist theories class (which I talked about here).
Back to the show, the three ladies end up hanging out, smoking weed and reflecting on the things they would do to Mr Hart if they had power.
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| 9 to 5 Installment 4/5 at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
The company thrives, the board chair comes to congratulate Hart on its success and ends up promoting Violet to CEO and sending Hart to open a new branch in a far away country (skipping over things in case you plan to see it). So you know Hart wanted to take all the credit, and for that, he was sent far away.
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| 9 to 5 Installment 5/5 at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
HECK YEAH!!!!
The only thing I ask you not to do, especially if you are a lover or have listened to Dolly Parton for a long time - do not judge the person playing Doralee using a Dolly Parton rubric. That and the sexism angle (before I caught on), threw me off at the beginning but I caught on, and laughed my heart out.
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| Life before computers, laptops and mobile phones - How many things can you name and use? -9 to 5 Installment at Fulton Theatre, Lancaster |
The show is about two hours long, we went on for 1 hour 10 minutes before a 20 minute intermission then another 40 minutes for Act 2. We got to sing 9 to 5 at the end and listen to a voice recording of Dolly Parton asking us to let people know how great the play is (not sure if that was really her).
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| 9 to 5 movie poster, circa 1980 - source |
We had a full house yesterday, and I imagine this show will have a lot of people watching it over the next couple of weeks, and many more including myself going back a couple more times after their own 9 to 5s.
Until the next review,
Sending love and light,
Sitawa
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