1980's hit movie launched Dolly Parton's acting career with a blam, along with starting Dabney Coleman's career as sneaky jerkwads that occupied most of the rest of the decade, giving Jane Fonda a rare chance to play comedy and a rare chance for Lily Tomlin to play lead. Almost 30 years later it became a Broadway musical, and now, another 15 years later, it's playing locally. The show is distinctly set back in period, including the dreaded Xerox and the early wave of women fulltime in the workplace, taking their grievances at the professional world seriously even as it weaves a fairytale farce around their accidental-then-deliberate revenge on their oppressive boss, Franklin Hart Jr. There would be no point doing the show without Dolly Parton's iconic title song, alas the rest of the score never quite lies up to that level, though there are moments of fun and introspection in the rest of the score, from independent-woman-power ballads like "Shine like the Sun" and "Get Out and Stay Out" to comic cravenness in "Heart to Hart" to a romantic duet on "Let Love Grow". Patricia Resnick's script takes her script of the movie and adjusts it for stage representation, oddly enough increasing the roles of a few of the men (love-interest Joe and son Josh, as far as I remember, never appeared in the movie originally).
Sarah Hull directs with a brisk energy, particularly in moments of high farce like the hospital sequence, aided by a tightly choreographed cast by Lauren Chapman and a strong band from Jenna Hinton.
The central trio of performers are gold, from Kate Einsenberg's confident but frustrated Violet who warms to the opportunities the plot gives her to Sarah Copley's initially mousy Judy, blossoming as the shenanigans give her confidence, to the spectacular Sienna Curnow, who takes the Dolly Parton template of Doralee and relishes every hollering, confident moment. Up against them, Steven O'Mara oozes sleeze as the obnoxious Hart, and Shennia Spillane is delightful as his obsequious partner-in-sneakiness, Roz. Dave Collins takes a role that could feel superfluous and makes it necessary by turning his adorability up to 11 - he's endearing whenever he's onstage, and the payoff of his relationship with Violet feels deeply earned.
Thompson Quan-Wing's set is an adaptable marvel at shifting around the offices of Consolidated Industries and into a few other places too, and Samantha Marcedo's costumes do a great job of feeling period-appropriate without being overly parodic of the period.
Jacob Acquilina's lighting picks out the areas of the stage well and comes up with good mood combos for the shifts into and out of fantasy, and Telia Jansen's sound hits just the right balance between impact and overwhelming the audience.
This is a fun show, played with verve and enthusiasm by its cast - it's playful, charming and with just a little bit of heart and soul in the middle to give the pudding some heft to it.
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