9 to 5: The Musical - Savoy Theatre

I mean, ngl that whole 'dream sequence' routine bit is a bit pointless and it drags on a lot.

A friend of mine was dayseating this morning, first in line and just wanted a single ticket. Got to the box office window for them to tell him they had nothing, but he heard the couple behind him being offered 2 front row dayseats? After hearing this and speaking to the box office, plus offering to buy two tickets if it meant actually getting them, they conveniently had a return.

I know dayseats are at the discretion of the box office but this seems to be poor form imo! It's a Saturday, you know you're likely to be able to sell one ticket later on in the day!

We’re in BB for matinee today. Just hoping stage not too high.

Saw this this afternoon, and I feel like I'm Clark Kent cos I agree with everything LoisLane says: a thoroughly entertaining afternoon, with the emphasis on the comedic, with Bonnie Langford getting the most laughs per minute, enhanced by some catchy tunes very capably delivered, and lots of ensemble dancing.

Some spoilers follow. . .

In this #MeToo era, Brian Conley's sexist boss, Franklin Hart, is a perfect villain, too razzle dazzle pantomime silly to spark genuine offense in audience members, but nonetheless a lightning rod for transforming communal outrage into cathartic audience jeering, in his oh so sexist eightiesness, an evil version of Barnum, this time doomed to humiliatingly hang from his tightrope instead of walking triumphantly across it.

Conley is one third of the triumvirate of comic performers who succeed in getting huge and genuine laughs. The other two wholly successful comic performances are those by Bonnie Langford as Hart's lust-lorn sidekick, Roz, and Natalie McQueen as Dolly Parton avatar, Doralee.

McQueen has it all, as the five people who saw her Mad Hatter in Wonderland can attest, a fierce comic energy that buoys up the comic traits of her character, coupled with a fiery passionate singing voice, and as a consequence her Doralee owns the stage, and even engenders empathetic pathos in her delivery of "Backwoods Barbie."

But it is Langford who steals this show: impeccable comic timing couples with confident comic caricaturing, so detailed that even the staccato way she walks is funny, wholly passionate singing, and the most brazenly rampaging expression of female lust on stage since Carrie Hope Fletcher cut loose in Heathers to raucous cheers. Here, the cheers are equally supportive, and accompanied in addition by belly laughs in equal measure, so committed is Langford to comic excess.

The show is not completely successful. In particular, there is a lack of jeopardy in the plot that verges on lackadaisical. Just as plot stakes appear, they are abandoned for side scenes, and for a screwball farce, this is like stale champagne, its fizz ebbed away through a faulty cork, refusing to explode when opened.

Also, neither Caroline Sheen nor Amber Davies can quite match McQueen's success in defining their characters. Sheen acts brilliantly, but over-naturalistically, and this squanders potential laughs, whereas too frequently, Davies goes for the laughs but misses her target, a joker lacking a sense of humour. That said, both actors nail certain songs, with Sheen's "One of the Boys" a razzle dazzle standout, and Davies' "Get out and Stay out" a delectable mellifluous combination of passion and tenderness.

Having seen Louise Redknapp in "Cabaret," I adored her sweet singing but found her acting severely wanting, and given that Sheen's Violet is the principal driver of the plot, an acting heavy part, I would see Sheen over Redknapp if I had a choice of one over the other. Of course, Redknapp's acting may have come on leaps and bounds since her Sally Bowles, for all I know.

What I do know is that I share LoisLane's predilection for this flawed but entertaining show over the more ground-breaking "Come from Away," which naturalistic and nice characters were predictably so, and mostly did not pop for me, with the exception of Robert Hands and Helen Hobson.

To experience new and original theatre, see "Come from Away," but for sheer escapism and massive laughs from Bonnie Langford, see this.

4 stars.

Oh, and the matinee ended at 9 to 5, giving the show a running time of 2 hours, 21 minutes (including one interval).

I asked a friend who was there last night, and unless he has forgotten any, he said the song list was:

Act I
01. "9 to 5"
02. "Around Here"
03. "Here for You"
04. "I Just Might"
05. "Backwoods Barbie"
06. "Hey Boss"
07. "Heart to Hart"
08. "Shine Like the Sun"
Act II
09. "One of the Boys"
10. "5 to 9"
11. "Always a Woman"
12. "Change It"
13. "Let Love Grow"
14. "Get Out and Stay Out"
15. "Finale"
16. "9 to 5" (Reprise)

Interesting, I believe 'Always a Woman' was taken out of the show when it was licensed.

I see that row BB is now bookable online for between £55 and £65. Availability for most performances from Monday coming onwards.

If all pre-sold would that most likely mean no day seats?

First production shot is out!

I was surprised too, I thought she sounded amazing.

7 new production shots on this page, Amber and Natalie look very glam!

www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/9-to-5-musical-photos-dolly-parton-west-end_48453.html?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=05February2019#&gid=1&pid=3

Well that rather ruins my initial plan. Now to try and find a cheap seat before Caroline leaves and find two new shows for that Saturday (originally it was 9 to 5 and Caroline or Change)

Bonnie stepping out of those plants may be my favourite photo of all time.