9 to 5 The Musical

Early last week some friends invited me to join them to watch 9 to 5 The Musical. I love musicals, half the reason I picked to attend a London University was so I could go to the West End when ever I liked (depending on funds of course!). However 9 to 5 isn't on the West End, yet. It's currently touring across the UK and I had to venture across to the other side of London all the way to Richmond theatre. For me that's pretty far out of my way. I hoped my trip outside of zone 3 and into the depths of South West London would be worth it.

Before I saw the show the only thing I knew about it was of course Dolly Parton's song of the same name. I think it's a song everyone who has worked in an office can relate to. I made sure I downloaded and listened to it on the way to work for a few days before I saw the show (just to get in the right mindset) and I think it's been stuck in my head for literally weeks now! What I didn't know is that not only is this a musical by Dolly Parton herself but that it was based on a film she starred in back in 1980, which introduced Dolly to a wider audience. I haven't seen the film so I can't say how similar it is but I know it isn't a musical. It is now on my 'to watch' list (which is always seems to grow).

Now back to the musical; the story follows three women who are each victimised in different ways by their sexiest boss, and through the course of the story they get their revenge. It's a simple premise but that is just what is needed for the musical, the strong points of this story are the characters. Each of them have their own problems and we are given enough time to relate to them. And the songs are catchy. I thought all the performers were excellent, and it was good to see three leading ladies, but it was one of the supporting characters stole the show for me. Roz is the assistant to the sexiest boss and she harbours a secret crush on him. I don't want to give anything away but her song, dance, in fact, her whole character just helped pick up the story and brought the biggest laughs. I never buy a programme so I didn't realise until I got home and checked online but this character was played by legend Bonnie Langford. It's a great show, and surprisingly touching, I went not expecting too much but left with a big smile on my face.

Photos all taken from here

The show is currently touring across the UK and if you can get tickets I'd recommend gathering a few friends and heading to your local theatre for a fun night out.

Now I'm off to download Backwoods Barbie.