The producers and creatives of "9 to 5" are working overtime to make sure their tuner is up to the job of becoming the next Broadway hit.
The musical, opening April 30 at the Marquis Theater, punches in for the season after a fall tryout at the Ahmanson in Los Angeles, where the production was plagued by technical difficulties while critical reaction ranged from upbeat to so-so.
Between coasts the big-budget tuner has undergone the usual fine-tuning -- with a creative team mostly light on legit experience: producer Robert Greenblatt, prexy of entertainment at Showtime; book writer Patricia Resnick, co-screenwriter of the 1980 pic; and the needs-no-introduction Dolly Parton, writing music and lyrics in her first stage outing. (Much-employed helmer Joe Mantello, whose lengthy CV includes "Wicked" and "Take Me Out," is the legit vet of the group.)
Five songs heard in L.A. have been cut, three others added and the second act has been significantly restructured in an effort to strike a stageworthy balance for the screen-to-boards transfer.
"Tonally, the musical is more madcap but also more emotional than the movie," Greenblatt says.
"9 to 5" arrives in Gotham as the third and final big-budget new tuner of the season, after insta-hit "Billy Elliot" and fluctuating "Shrek the Musical," both of which opened in the fall. The show looks to carve out an audience with the help of Parton's wide appeal and a collective fondness for the movie, which, feevee exec Greenblatt notes, is always running on cable.
The story centers on a trio of harassed working femmes who take revenge on their chauvinist boss, with multiple flights of fantasy along the way. Taking the roles originated by Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Parton are, respectively, Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty, with Marc Kudisch as the boss portrayed in the pic by Dabney Coleman.
Despite repeated stalls in L.A., the set was apparently not one of the things that required a redo in the cross-country move. There's been nary a peep about breakdowns in New York. The difficulties at the Ahmanson are explained as part of the learning curve that comes with a complex and heavily automated scenic design by Scott Pask.
Some legiters who have seen the show suggest the set is too complicated, but Greenblatt disagrees, saying the multi-scene storyline, with its central setting of an office bullpen, demanded it.
"You've got to have a semblance of a multiplicity of desks onstage," he says. "It's a function of the story that the set is complicated."
Also evidently not an obstacle is a lawsuit related to the stage rights, filed by the estate of Colin Higgins, who helmed the pic and co-wrote the screenplay with Resnick (who is credited with the movie's story). The suit is directed not at the "9 to 5" tuner team but at the lawyer who allegedly failed to rep Higgins' interests in the deal for stage rights.
As for the show's content, one of the most significant moments to change between L.A. and Gotham is the depiction of a battle between Block's character and an obstreperous photocopier.
Creatives describe the original song, "Out of Control," as focusing more on the machine and its physical comedy, when a more character-based tune was required.
"I understood real fast how these songs have to tell the story and connect with everything else in the show," Parton says.
So out went "Out of Control," and in its place is "I Just Might," which begins with Block singing solo and expands into a trio about all three protags and their desires.
That helped solve a central first-act problem, Resnick says. "In L.A., we didn't really have an 'I wish' song," she says.
A musical sequence in a hospital is now a book scene, she adds, while Greenblatt says restructuring helped improve the second act's rhythm and pacing.
The tuner's finale also has undergone a rehaul.
"I always felt we didn't have a completely satisfying ending," Resnick says of the movie. "We've reworked it for New York, and Violet" -- the part played by Janney -- "has an important new speech now."
Parton has an affinity for narratives in song. "As a songwriter, I've always kinda been known for writin' stories, and the stage is a natural for that," she says.
But, according to all involved, she was never shy about tossing a song that didn't work. Some of those tunes that got away might show up as recordings, perhaps as bonus tracks on a cast recording.
"Nothing's ever lost," she says. "As a writer, I can use them later."
Contact Gordon Cox at
gordon.cox@variety.com