by Dolly Parton (music and lyrics) and Patricia Resnick (book)
Directed by : Jack Gregson
The Core Theatre, Solihull – Saturday 13th June 2026
“9 to 5” began life as a feature film back in 1980, intended as a star vehicle for country music legend Dolly Parton, who wrote all the songs in the musical. The musical version is of more recent vintage, having made its debut in 2008 with the book written by screenplay co-writer Patricia Resnick. It is the story of three women working in a man’s world in the offices of the late 1970s and whilst things have thankfully moved on since then, there is still a mirror to hold up to some parts of society today.
The production, somewhat surprisingly (to me anyway) opened with some video footage where the aforementioned Dolly gave an introduction to the setting and the characters. This is not something that I’d seen on previous productions, presumably as I expect it adds to the cost, but it was certainly a good investment,
This production opened with, as you might expect, the title song which was a very energetic and engaging number. The music did seem to be pitched a bit too loud at times but thankfully you could still hear the singers.
Stage management was handled well, with most of the scene changes being slick and smooth so as not to hold up the plot. The one exception was during a hospital scene in act 1, where part of the set was being moved whilst dialogue was still going on. I don’t know if the stage crew had come on early or whether this was intended but either way, it did distract a bit from the action.
There was an excellent and effective rest room set which showed a great attention to detail bearing in mind the short time it was on stage.
We had a very colourful set here with lots of purple and yellow about, which I presume was intended to represent the company’s logo & colour scheme.
The stage was used very well to depict and suggest settings where a full set was not required, e.g. in the kitchen or living room at the apartments.
Whilst the musical numbers were well done and excellently choreographed, there did seem to be a couple of lighting issues – the lighting seemed a bit wayward during “Shine Like the Sun”. I don’t know, was this meant to show the movement of sunlight? That’s not what came over unfortunately.
Then in the number “One of the Boys”, a spotlight seemed to be missed and at one point Violet was occasionally singing in the dark. Thankfully, this did not distract too much from the excellent performance of the number.
This show is set in the late 1970s and we got period appropriate costumes all of which enhanced the setting. Although when Tinsworthy appeared at the end in his white suit, my first thought was of the Man from Del Monte!
We are of course in California for the duration of this production and the cast did an excellent job of maintaining the accents throughout, not always an easy task. I also don’t recall any noticeable prompts.
The cast was led by Sabrina Sacco in the role of company stalwart Violet Newstead. According to the programme Sabrina hadn’t done any acting for 15 years, not that you would have known from this performance as rusty she wasn’t. She interacted very well with the rest of the cast, notably with the other two main female leads.
Beth Jones gave able support in the role of Judy Berrnly, the company newcomer who gave us some excellent comedy moments in addition to having a superb singing voice – her performance in “I Just Might” being a standout.
Emily Cottrell had the unenviable task of stepping into Dolly’s shoes in the role of Doralee Rhodes. This she did with aplomb and also gave us some great comedic moments, being possibly the most (I hesitate to use term but I can’t think of a better one) extravert of the three leads.
Up against the three ladies we had Ben Guffin-Munday in the role of their antagonist, Franklin Hart Jr. And what a villain he made, giving a suitably creepy performance and leaving no doubt as to his motivations throughout. I was getting a Dick Dastardly vibe at times, without going over the top and descending into pantomime villainy.
Cat Greenway gave us a very Uriah Heep-ish Roz Keith with her transformation at the end being a delight, whilst Steve Element’s Joe worked very well throughout, but especially in the scenes with Sabrina as Violet, with some very good on stage rapport there.
Tracey Scott seemed to be having a whale of a time playing the drunken lush Margaret, which also got a lot of laughs from the audience. Paul Hampton was a good supportive role as Doralee’s husband Dwayne whilst Gareth Knipe was suitably unpleasant as Judy’s ex, Dick. Gareth also played the aforementioned Tinsworthy and gave us very contrasting roles.
The rest of the cast and chorus (too many to mention everyone, sorry!) worked very well together throughout the show. Song and dance routines were enthusiastic and entertaining whilst their roles were also well portrayed without a weak leak amongst them. This was a cast that clearly seemed to be enjoying themselves in their roles, which always helps to engage the audience.
Overall, despite a couple of minor issues this was a thoroughly entertaining and delightful afternoon spent in the company of a highly talented group of performers and credit is given to those on stage, in the orchestra pit or keeping things moving backstage.
Even my sister, who is not easily pleased, enjoyed this which shows how good it was. And I think even Dolly would have been happy with it.
Reviewed By- David.G
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