Co-director George Mann hopes for only one thing when the curtain comes down on "9 to 5: The Musical." He hopes audiences leave the Fort Smith Little Theatre's summer production "just tickled it worked out like it did."
"My goal is always a profound emotional reaction to what just happened," says the 20-year veteran of the community theater group. "With this show, I wanted it to be same reaction as when the movie is over: Satisfaction and joy."
FAQ
‘9 to 5:
The Musical’
WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1-2, 2 p.m. Aug. 3; again Aug. 6-10
WHERE — Fort Smith Little Theatre, 401 N. Sixth St. in Fort Smith
COST — $15
INFO — 783-2966
BONUS — A gala opening night performance starts at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; tickets are $30
Mann shares the comedy's helm with Dwight Curry and assistant director Brandon Bolin, and although he says they've just "divvied things up," he admits "the greatest preponderance of what I do is the musical part" -- in this case, songs written for the play by Dolly Parton. He started his career at FSLT as an accompanist and was musical director of many shows from 1994 until he moved over to director five years ago for "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers."
"To me," he says, "if something is an iconic movie first, like '9 to 5' or 'Hairspray,' that's indelibly imprinted in the mind of the viewer. This movie has been one of my favorites for years -- one of those I stop to watch if I'm clicking around on TV -- so in my head, it was about capturing that same spirit. And that's all based on how that ensemble of three -- Violet, Doralee and Judy -- works together."
Nancy Blochberger, also a 20-year veteran of Fort Smith Little Theater, says the show is "very much an ensemble -- even what you might call the chorus is part of the ensemble. They're in almost every scene. It's certainly not all about my character of Violet."
Although she has been "been lucky enough to serve (the theater company) in various capacities as well as to be on stage," "9 to 5" is Blochberger's first musical.
"I love Lily Tomlin as Violet in the movie, and it's the same type of role in the musical," she says. "I've certainly tried in some ways to emulate her, but I've also been able to see some snippets of the musical role performed on Broadway by Allison Janney. You have to kind of combine the two. But you have to bring your own personality to the role, too.
"I'm not a trained singer," she adds. "Most of the other performers in this show are very talented and well trained musicians. They've been able to bring me along to hopefully give a good performance."
-- Becca Martin-Brown
NAN What's Up on 07/25/2014