9 to 5, the musical, is based on the 1980 film about Secretaries, staring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda. The 1980 picture focuses on three office mates who conspire against their chauvinist martinet of a boss. The musical is being shepherded by producer Robert Greenblatt while Dolly Parton wrote all the music and lyrics, which has a libretto by Patricia Resnick, based on her screenplay. The show will remain set in the 1980s, which derives some humor from the things that people in the 80’s were looking forward to, such as all of the technology that we have now. The characters will include three secretaries, Judy, Violet and Doralee, Mr. Hart (the boss), Roz (the office spy) and "a couple of other male parts that were in the movie," which have been beefed up for the stage. An ensemble will be part of the musical. In addition, "we did add some romance" to the plot, Resnick said.
Musical supervision is by Kevin Stites (The Color Purple, Threepenny Opera, Nine, Fiddler on the Roof, On the Town, Les Misérables), with arrangements of Parton's new songs by Stites and Charles duChateau. The musical will be comprised of new songs by Parton, who is known for her hits "I Will Always Love You," "Coat of Many Colors" and "Jolene." The title song, which has the lyric about being "just a step on the boss man's ladder," will be part of the stage score. It will be Parton's first time scoring a legit musical. Parton's infectious title song for the movie was Oscar-nominated for Best Song. Underneath the comedy, the movie was about the smart, industrious but invisible women behind the power structure of corporate America. "That's changed a little, but not as much as you would have thought in the 25 years since the movie came out," Resnick said.
