For Release Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Contact: Michael Hartman /Wayne Wolfe/Melissa Bixler (212) 398-1800
BROADWAY THEATER, DATES AND FULL CASTING ANNOUNCEMEMENT
OPENS ON BROADWAY THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009
PREVIEWS BEGIN TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2009, AT
MARRIOTT MARQUIS THEATRE
ORIGINAL MUSIC AND LYRICS BY
DOLLY PARTON
STARRING
ALLISON JANNEY, STEPHANIE J. BLOCK, MEGAN HILTY
& MARC KUDISCH
BOOK BY PATRICIA RESNICK
CHOREOGRAPHY BY ANDY BLANKENBUEHLER
DIRECTED BY JOE MANTELLO
FOLLOWING WORLD PREMIERE ENGAGEMENT AT LOS ANGELES’
AHMANSON THEATRE - SEPTEMBER 3, 2008 - OCTOBER 19, 2008
Producer Robert Greenblatt announced today that 9 To 5: The Musical,
based on the 20th Century Fox motion picture, will begin previews on Broadway
Tuesday, March 24, 2009, and will open Thursday, April 23, 2009, at the
Marriott Marquis Theatre (1535 Broadway). 9 To 5: The Musical marks
the Broadway debut of seven-time Grammy Award winning singer, songwriter
and musician Dolly Parton as composer and lyricist. The musical’s book by
Patricia Resnick is based on her original story and screenplay for the smash
1980 film comedy. Directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello and
choreographed by Tony Award winner Andy Blankenbuehler, 9 To 5: The
Musical will star four-time Emmy Award winner and Tony Award nominee
Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty, and two-time Tony
Award nominee Marc Kudisch. 9 To 5: The Musical will have its world
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premiere engagement in Los Angeles at the Center Theatre Group/Ahmanson
Theatre beginning previews Wednesday, September 3, opening Saturday,
September 20, and playing through Sunday, October 19, 2008.
The production features scenic design by two-time Tony Award winner Scott
Pask, costume design by five-time Tony Award winner William Ivey Long,
lighting design by eight-time Tony Award winners Jules Fisher and Peggy
Eisenhauer, sound design by John Shivers, with musical supervision by
Stephen Oremus.
When pushed to their boiling point by their boss, Franklin Hart, Jr. (Marc
Kudisch), Violet Newstead (Allison Janney), the super efficient office
manager, Judy Bernly (Stephanie J. Block), a frazzled divorcee, and the sexy
executive secretary Doralee Rhodes (Megan Hilty) turn the tables on him. The
trio hatches a plan to get even with the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical,
bigot, and that plan quickly spins wildly and hilariously out of control. Ms.
Parton’s original score for 9 To 5: The Musical includes over twenty new songs
as well as the Grammy Award winning, Academy Award nominated, and #1
Billboard title song.
The 30 member cast of 9 To 5: The Musical features Andy Karl, Kathy
Fitzgerald, Ioana Alfonso, Timothy Anderson, Jennifer Balagna,
Justin Bohon, Paul Castree, Daniel Cooney, Jeremy Davis, Gaelen
Gilliland, Autumn Guzzardi, Ann Harada, Lisa Howard, Van Hughes,
Kevin Kern, Brendan King, Michael X. Martin, Michael Mindlin,
Karen Murphy, Mark Myars, Jessica Lea Patty, Charlie Pollock, Tory
Ross, Wayne Schroder, Maia Nkenge Wilson and Brandi Wooten.
For more information visit www.9to5themusical.com
For publicity photos visit www.barlowhartman.com
Biographies - Cast
ALLISON JANNEY (Violet Newstead). Displaying astonishing versatility
with a wide range of roles in film, television and theatre, one of Allison
Janney’s most memorable Broadway performances was Beatrice in Arthur
Miller’s A View from the Bridge, opposite Anthony LaPaglia, which brought
her a Tony nomination and both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk
Awards for Best Supporting Actress. She also starred in the New York Public
Theater’s production of Taming of the Shrew for Shakespeare in the Park
and in the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s production of Lillian Hellman’s
The Autumn Garden. She is proud to have studied acting at the famed
Neighborhood Playhouse upon the advice of Paul Newman and Joanne
Woodward. Equally at home on film, Ms. Janney appeared recently as
Prudy Pingleton in the blockbuster screen version of the Tony Awardwinning Broadway musical Hairspray, and in Jason Reitman’s Academy
Award winning ensemble dramedy Juno. Ms. Janney received a 2006
Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Our
Very Own (Los Angeles Film Festival premiere). She starred opposite Meryl
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Streep in The Hours, which received a SAG Award nomination for
Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture, and in the Academy Awardwinning film American Beauty (for which she won a SAG Award for
Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture). Her long list of feature
films also includes Nurse Betty, How to Deal, Drop Dead Gorgeous, 10
Things I Hate About You, Primary Colors, The Ice Storm, Celebrity, Six
Days Seven Nights, The Object of My Affection and Big Night. Additionally
she was heard as the voice of Gladys in the animated comedy Over the Hedge
and as Peach in Finding Nemo. No stranger to television, audiences and
critics alike loved her in the role of CJ Cregg in the award-winning NBC
series “The West Wing.” She won a remarkable four SAG Awards and four
Emmys for her work on the series. She also earned Golden Globe
nominations four years in a row.
STEPHANIE J. BLOCK (Judy Bernly). Broadway credits include Elphaba
in Wicked (also originating the role of Elphaba in the national touring
company - 2006 Helen Hayes Award, Outstanding Lead Actress). Other
Broadway credits include Grace O’Malley in The Pirate Queen, Liza Minnelli
in The Boy From Oz. Regional credits include Funny Girl (Robby Award,
Best Actress), Crazy for You (Ovation Award nominee), Oliver! (Critics
Award, Best Actress), and James Joyce’s The Dead (CTG/Ahmanson Theatre
and Kennedy Center). Her voice can be heard on numerous CDs and
commercial jingles.
MEGAN HILTY (Doralee Rhodes) made her Broadway debut as Glinda in
Wicked and just concluded a run in that role in the Los Angeles production.
She is a recent graduate of the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama. Credits
include Café (City Theatre), Suds (OCT) and The Wild Party (CMU). Megan
is a recipient of the National Society of Arts and Letters Award for Excellence
in Musical Theater.
MARC KUDISCH (Franklin Hart, Jr.) recently stared in Lincoln Center
Theater’s The Glorious Ones. Broadway credits include The Apple Tree,
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Tony and Outer Critics nominations), Assassins
(Drama Desk nomination), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Tony, Drama Desk,
Outer Critics Circle nominations), Bells Are Ringing, The Wild Party, The
Scarlet Pimpernel, High Society, Beauty and the Beast and
Joseph…Dreamcoat. Off-Broadway credits include See What I Wanna See
(Drama Desk nomination), No Strings and The Thing About Men. Recent
regional appearances include The Witches of Eastwick (2008 Helen Hayes
Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a musical), The Highest Yellow (Helen
Hayes nomination, Signature Theatre, D.C.), Zorba (Ovation, L.A. Drama
Critics Circle nominations, Garland Award, Reprise!), Summer and Smoke
(Hartford Stage). TV appearances include “Break In” (Lifetime), “Bye Bye
Birdie” (ABC TV), and “Sex and the City.”
Biographies – Creative Team
DOLLY PARTON (Composer and Lyricist). Ms. Parton is not only the
reigning queen of country music but an iconic songwriter, musician, actress
and entrepreneur as well. In 1967 she became a star on Porter Wagoner’s
syndicated television show for which they would claim two Country Music
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Association (CMA) Awards for Duo of the Year. Quickly finding her wings as
a solo artist, she joined the Grand Ole Opry in 1969 and went on to win CMA
Female Vocalist of the Year Honors two years in a row, and eventually
Entertainer of the Year. And then came Hollywood. Her very first film was 9
to 5 which brought her an Academy Award nomination as well as perhaps
the most successful hit song of her career. She went on to star in The Best
Little Whorehouse in Texas, Rhinestone, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk.
And a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame seemed inevitable. She has sold
more than 100 million records worldwide and won countless awards
including eight CMA and seven Grammy Awards. She has taken more than
20 songs to No. 1 including the mega hit “I Will Always Love You” which is
the only song to have topped the charts three times – twice for Dolly (1973
and 1982) and once for Whitney Houston (1992). In 1999, she was inducted
into the Country Music Hall of Fame and was awarded the Kennedy Center
Honor in 2006. She was also nominated for an Academy Award that year for
her hit song “Travelin’ Thru” written for the movie Transamerica. She
continues to tour extensively and release albums at a prolific rate, displaying
her immense versatility in pop, country, bluegrass and blues. Dolly is also
proud to be a successful author and creator of the Imagination Library which
provides books to pre-school children. It currently operates in all 95
counties in Tennessee and has expanded into 700 communities in 45 states
and Canada. It currently serves over 400,000 children and in 2007 will mail
out 4.4 million books (bringing the total to 11 million since its inception).
And last but not least, Dollywood – her very own theme park – flourishes in
Tennessee.
PATRICIA RESNICK (Book). Ms. Resnick has enjoyed a successful and
varied career in film, television and theatre. She wrote the original
screenplay for the film 9 to 5, a comedy classic. Under the tutelage of her
mentor Robert Altman, she co-authored A Wedding (British Academy Award
and Writer’s Guild nominations) and Quintet, starring Paul Newman. Other
films include Maxie (Glenn Close) and Straight Talk, which reunited her
with Dolly Parton. She has written numerous pilots and films for television,
most recently The Battle of Mary Kay starring Shirley MacLaine and Parker
Posey who both gave Golden Globe-nominated performances. She wrote
(Cable Ace Award) and directed (Ace nomination) a short film, Grandpa’s
Funeral. She is currently executive producer and head writer of a 26-episode
series based on Caldecott Honor’s children’s book “Olivia” for the Nick Jr.
network, to air in 2009. Her theatre work includes sketches for Lily
Tomlin’s first one-woman Broadway show, Appearing Nightly, and a stage
musical adaptation of her own PBS movie, Ladies in Waiting, which
originated at the Woodstock (Illinois) Summer Playhouse and later moved to
the Lyric Opera House in Chicago. Ms. Resnick resides in Los Angeles with
her two children, three dogs, two cats, some fish and any strays who happen
to wander in.
JOE MANTELLO (Director). One would be hard-pressed to find a busier
or more accomplished director working on Broadway today. A two-time
Tony Award-winner, Mr. Mantello is currently represented on Broadway
(and around the world) with Wicked, a show that will likely become the most
successful musical in history. His first Tony Award was for directing Richard
Greenberg’s acclaimed Take Me Out and his second was for the revival of
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Stephen Sondheim’s Assassins. Equally at home with musicals or plays, his
other high-profile shows include Three Days of Rain (Julia Roberts), The
Odd Couple, Glengarry Glen Ross, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune,
Laugh Whore (which was also filmed for Showtime), A Man of No
Importance, Design for Living, Terrence McNally and Jake Heggie’s Dead
Man Walking for San Francisco Opera, The Vagina Monologues, bash,
Another American: Asking and Telling, Love! Valour! Compassion! (stage
and film), Proposals, The Mineola Twins, Corpus Christi,
Mizlansky/Zilinsky or Schmucks, Blue Window, God’s Heart, The
Santaland Diaries, Lillian, Snakebit, Three Hotels, Imagining Brad and Fat
Men in Skirts. For the 2007-2008 season he directed the revival of Terrence
McNally’s The Ritz and David Mamet’s new play November. He is directing
this season’s much anticipated revival of Pal Joey. Mr. Mantello began his
career as an actor and starred on Broadway (and at CTG/Mark Taper Forum)
in Tony Kushner’s Angels in America (Tony nomination) and Off-Broadway
in The Baltimore Waltz. He is a member of Naked Angels and an associate
artist at the Roundabout.
ROBERT GREENBLATT (Producer) Robert Greenblatt is currently
President of Entertainment for Showtime Networks Inc. where he is
responsible for programming development, acquisitions, and scheduling of
all Showtime channels. Current original series hits include “Weeds,”
“Dexter,” “The Tudors,” “Californication,” “The L Word,” “Brotherhood,”
“Secret Diary of a Call Girl,” “This American Life,” “Penn & Teller: Bullshit!”
and Tracey Ullman's “State of the Union.” New series for the coming season
include Diablo Cody’s “United States of Tara,” starring Toni Collette and
produced by Steven Spielberg. A project starring Edie Falco has just
completed production, and a pilot created by Tim Robbins goes into
production in the fall of 2008. Prior to Showtime, Greenblatt was an awardwinning producer of over a dozen series on various networks including “Six
Feet Under,” for which he was awarded the 2002 Golden Globe for Best
Television Drama Series. This show garnered dozens of Emmy nominations
including four for Best Drama, and it won Greenblatt the 2003 Producers
Guild Award, three GLAAD Media Awards, and the Peabody Award. He also
produced two mini-series, “Elvis” (starring Golden Globe winner Jonathan
Rhys Meyers) and two installments of Gregory Nava’s “American Family” for
PBS. Prior to producing, Greenblatt was Executive Vice President of Prime
Time Programming for the Fox Broadcasting Company where he developed
such seminal hits as “Beverly Hills, 90210;” “Melrose Place;” “The X-Files;”
“Party of Five;” “Ally McBeal” and “King of the Hill,” in addition to the pilots
for “The Sopranos” and “Dawson's Creek.”
ANDY BLANKENBUEHLER (Choreographer). Mr. Blankenbuehler won
a 2008 Tony Award for his choreography in the Tony Award winning Best
Musical In The Heights (also Lortel Award, Outer Critics Award and Drama
Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography). He also choreographed the
Broadway revival of The Apple Tree. Other recent projects include the new
Broadway-bound musical Waiting For The Moon (music by Frank
Wildhorn); the world premiere of the musical A Little Princess (music by
Andrew Lippa); the Paper Mill Playhouse production of A Wonderful Life; as
well as the off-Broadway play Burleigh Grimes (music by David Yazbek);
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and the hit Caesars Palace production Nights On Broadway. As a
performer, he has danced on Broadway in Fosse, Contact, Man of La
Mancha, Saturday Night Fever, Steel Pier, Big and Guys and Dolls.
SCOTT PASK (Set Designer).
Mr. Pask is one of the most
respected designers working in theatre and opera today. Most recently he
designed the Roundabout’s Broadway revival of The Ritz, the new Mamet
play, November (both directed by Joe Mantello, his frequent collaborator),
and the new musical Cry-Baby. He won a Tony, Outer Critics Circle and
Drama Desk Awards for his scenic design for Lincoln Center’s production of
Tom Stoppard trilogy The Coast of Utopia. Later in 2008, his design for the
Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Peter Grimes will have its premiere.
Among his many additional Broadway credits are The Pillowman (Tony
Award, Outer Critics Circle nomination), The Vertical Hour, The Lieutenant
of Inishmore, Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, The Wedding Singer
(Drama Desk nomination), Sweet Charity (Drama Desk nomination), La
Cage Aux Folles, Urinetown, Take Me Out (Drama Desk nomination), Little
Shop of Horrors, Nine (Outer Critics Circle nomination), Kiki and Herb:
Alive on Broadway, and Amour (Drama Desk nomination). Mr. Pask also
designed Blackbird (Drama Desk nomination), Pig Farm (Roundabout),
Kaos (N.Y. Theatre Workshop), Lovesong (West End), On an Average
Day (West End), Tales from Hollywood (Donmar Warehouse), bash
(Almeida Theatre, N.Y., L.A.), The Mineola Twins, Albert Herring (Opera
North, U.K.), The Underpants, The Bomb-itty of Errors, The Donkey Show,
Slanguage, The Gimmick, Love’s Fowl, The Beginning of August and
Refuge.
WILLIAM IVEY LONG (Costume Designer) Mr. Long has designed the
costumes for 58 Broadway productions and has been nominated for ten Tony
Awards, winning five times. Mr. Long is currently represented on Broadway
by Young Frankenstein, Hairspray (Tony Award) and Chicago. Previous
Broadway credits include The Producers (Tony Award), Curtains, Grey
Gardens (Tony Award), The Ritz, Losing Louie, Sweet Charity, Twentieth
Century, 1776, The Music Man, Smokey Joe’s Café, Steel Pier, Company,
Picnic, Cabaret, La Cage Aux Folles, The Frogs, Little Shop of Horrors, The
Boy From Oz, Contact, The Music Man, Crazy for You (Tony Award), Guys
and Dolls, Lend Me a Tenor, and Nine (Tony Award). He is also designing
the costumes for this season’s revival of Pal Joey. In January 2006, he was
inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame.
JULES FISHER and PEGGY EISENHAUER ((Lighting Designers). Mr.
Fisher and Ms. Eisenhauer have collectively been awarded Broadway’s Tony
Award for Best Lighting Design eight times, including Stephen Sondheim’s
Assassins (revival); Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk; Jelly’s Last Jam;
The Will Rogers Follies; Grand Hotel; Bob Fosse’s Dancin’; Pippin; and
Ulysses in Nighttown. Together, they have been honored with nearly 30
Tony Award nominations. Their inventive lighting designs for Broadway
include The Ritz; Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life; Caroline, or Change;
Gypsy; Jane Eyre; The Wild Party; Cabaret; Ragtime; Victor/Victoria;
Angels in America; and Fosse’s Big Deal in 1985, their first collaboration.
For motion pictures, Fisher and Eisenhauer designed theatrical lighting for
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Rob Marshall’s Chicago, Mel Brooks’ The Producers, Richard Linklater’s
School of Rock and Bill Condon’s Dreamgirls. Their studio, Third Eye,
conceives and designs lighting for all forms of entertainment.
STEPHEN OREMUS (Musical Supervisor) Music supervisor/arranger of
Wicked; music supervisor/vocal arranger/orchestrator of Avenue Q; music
supervisor/vocal arranger/co-orchestrator of All Shook Up; vocal arranger of
High Fidelity. Off-Broadway: music supervisor/vocal arranger/orchestrator
of tick, tick…BOOM!; music director of Andrew Lippa's The Wild Party at
Manhattan Theatre Club and Rent (national tour). Music director/conductor
for Rufus Wainwright (singing Judy Garland’s famous concert) at Carnegie
Hall; the Palladium, London; and L'Olympia, Paris. Music director and
arranger of Broadway Meets Country in New York and Nashville. Music
Supervisor/vocal arranger of Signed Sealed Delivered: The Music of Stevie
Wonder starring Chaka Kahn (Las Vegas). Graduate of Berklee College of
Music, Boston.
JOHN SHIVERS (Sound Designer) Broadway sound design credits include
The Little Mermaid, Tarzan, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, In My Life, Billy
Crystal's 700 Sundays, Julia Sweeney's God Said "Ha!" He is also credited
as the associate sound designer for Broadway and worldwide productions of
Mary Poppins, The Lion King, The Producers, Hairspray, Elton John and
Tim Rice's Aida, Titanic, How to Succeed in Business Without Really
Trying, Big, The Who's Tommy, Guys and Dolls and The Buddy Holly Story.
Other credits include work on various productions with Ace, Savion Glover,
Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach and Gregory Hines. John is married to
singer/songwriter Catherine Porter with whom he has a daughter, Ruby.
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