BWW Reviews: '9 to 5: THE MUSICAL' national tour opens at TPAC

Make no mistake about it: everybody in Tennessee loves Dolly Parton! She's a Volunteer State treasure, a role model for people all over the world and an example of what hard work and a whole lotta heart can achieve. Hell, if Dolly (in Tennessee, no other modifier is needed to identify our favorite daughter) ran for office, she'd be a shoo-in!

And it's clear - judging from audience reactions during the national touring company's Nashville kick-off at Tennessee Performing Arts Center - that Tennesseans love 'em some 9 to 5: The Musical, the retooled, refashioned and re-imagined theatrical piece based on the 1980 film in which Dolly made her own screen debut.

9 to 5: The Musical is a fun, fast-paced diversion that is fairly faithful to the movie, which provides the perfect showcase for a musical score crafted by Dolly herself. She may well be the most successful woman ever in country music circles, but her Tony Award-nominated score proves that Dolly is an amazingly gifted musical theater tunesmith, crafting songs that are a pastiche of styles and genres that do what showtunes should do: they propel the plot forward and express the characters' bigger than life thoughts and aspirations - the stuff of which Dolly's very own dreams are made.

What sets this production apart from the Broadway version - not the least of which is a redesign that effectively captures the tone for the 1979 setting - is a tightening of Patricia Resnick's book, an attempt to focus on the "humanity" of the characters (according to director Jeff Calhoun), the cutting of one Act Two song and utilizing Dolly herself through the magic of screen projections to frame the play's action.

9 to 5: The Musical is not high art - and certainly makes no such pretensions - instead the show succeeds on its own middlebrow trappings as an enormously entertaining and thoroughly delightful musical comedy that may be exactly what audiences across America are yearning for at present. Undoubtedly, the show will prosper on the road in a way that it could not have in New York.

Even the most tepid Broadway reviews for 9 to 5: The Musical praised Dolly for her efforts on the project and, certainly, audiences will respond more favorably thanks to her increased presence in the touring production. Nashville audiences, particularly, are blessed by the fact that Dolly actually lives in Nashville and makes an appearance during the curtain call to sing a little of the title tune herself and to do what she does best: Be Dolly! Her enormous heart, drive and ambition are all used to great effect by the tireless entertainer who is as down-to-earth as the girl next door (although her hair his blonder, her waist is tinier and her clothes are glitzier) and who could charm the socks off even the most cynical reviewer.

Calhoun's expert direction and his sprightly choreography (he shares those duties with Lisa Stevens) ensures that 9 to 5: The Musical moves at a good pace and the action hardly ever drags during its two hours onstage. His talented cast, obviously inspired by Dolly's own work ethic, deliver strong performances, displaying remarkable musical range and the charm necessary to bring the somewhat dated story to life for audiences.

Dee Hoty, the three-time Tony nominee, is wonderfully cast as Violet (the role played on film by Lily Tomlin) and delivers her musical numbers with an ease that comes only through experience and confidence. Her big number at the top of Act Two - "One of the Boys" - is a glittery, old-fashioned yet somehow very contemporary, Broadway showstopper that proves Dolly Parton can write music for any genre. Hoty's performance is artfully delivered and heartfully expressed throughout the show's two acts.

Mamie Parris (late of The Drowsy Chaperone and Ragtime on Broadway) has a beautiful voice and that certain leading lady charm that people destined to become big stars have. She plays Judy Burnley, the character originally played by Jane Fonda, and she accurately conveys Judy's naivete and emerging self-assurance.

Nashville's own Diana DeGarmo (she calls Music City home now after her own turn on Broadway) plays Doralee, the role first played by Dolly on-screen, and she shows her own formidable presence and remarkable voice, particularly in "Backwoods Barbie." However, DeGarmo seems to base her characterization on Parton's indeliable movie performance (perhaps even on Dolly's own onstage persona), when a fresher perspective on Doralee might be best for contemporary audiences.

Joe Mahowald, the erstwhile Nashville star who's assayed roles on Broadway before taking on the role of Franklin Hart in this national tour, still has a gorgeous voice and enormous stage presence, making the most of his sexist, egotistical role with a certain dastardly relish and smarmy charm.

As Roz, Consolidated Industries' resident brown-noser and troublemaker, Kristine Zbornik is delightfully over-the-top and her "Heart to Hart" is a comic highlight of Act One. Gregg Goodbrod, (as Violet's love interest at the office) is well-cast as Joe, the junior accountant, and gives a charming, well-sung performance.

Kenneth Foy's scenic design is colorful and well-conceived and avoids the pitfalls of over-production to achieve the show's visual look, which is aided and abetted by the gorgeous period costumes created by multiple Tony Award-winner William Ivey Long and the superb lighting design of Tony-winner Ken Billington.

- 9 to 5: The Musical. Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. Book by Patricia Resnick. Based on the 20^th Century Fox Picture. Directed and choreographed by Jeff Calhoun. Presented by the National Touring Company at Tennessee Performing Arts Center, Nashville. Through Sunday, September 26.