UGA Theatre presents “9 to 5: The Musical” as part of UGA’s Spotlight on the Arts festival.
Performances will be held in the Fine Arts Theatre on Nov. 14-15 and 20-22 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 17 and 24 at 2 p.m. Performances on Nov. 21 and 22 will feature ASL (American Sign Language) interpretation for deaf and hard-of-hearing audience members.
Tickets are $18 or $6 for students and can be reserved at ugatheatre.com/ninetofive or by phone at 706-542-4400 or in person at the Performing Arts Center or Tate Center box offices.
From Dolly Parton and Patricia Resnick comes “9 to 5,” a musical adaptation of the 1980 20th-Century Fox film of the same name. The musical follows Violet, Judy and Doralee, three office employees who are fed up with their egotistical boss Franklin Hart Jr.’s overt misogyny and decide to take drastic action. With the opportunity to give the office a much-needed makeover in Hart’s absence, the women set about creating a workplace that functions for everyone, not just the “Boy’s Club.”
Like its film predecessor, “9 to 5: The Musical” draws much of its inspiration from the 9to5 movement of the 1970s, which saw female office workers organizing for equitable workplace treatment and fair wages.
“Jane Fonda was aware of the organization and saw a chance to shine a larger spotlight on the issues they faced,” said dramaturg Dyllon Glaze (A.B. Theatre, ’27), whose research helped contextualize the history of the movement for the cast and crew of UGA Theatre’s production. “Women like Ellen Cassedy and Karen Nussbaum were present at the outset of the movement, but the film helped to elevate the discussion to a national level.”
Director George Contini, Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Franklin College of Arts and Science’s theatre and film studies department, saw the impact of the original film firsthand while growing up in a small Ohio farm town. “My mother worked as a principal’s secretary when I was younger, and she always did her work with a smile. But when ‘9 to 5’ came out, she began to recognize the extent to which her bosses would take credit for her work. Despite not being very strongly engaged in the women’s movement to that point, she could suddenly get behind the idea of secretaries getting their due.”
“The themes of ‘9 to 5’ are just as relevant today as when the original film was released,” said Julie Ray, head of the theatre and film studies department. “It celebrates empowerment, standing up for what’s right, and camaraderie — values that resonate with our students and audiences alike. And it does so with an incredible Dolly Parton soundtrack as well.”
Two tie-in events will take place prior to the “9 to 5” opening. On Nov. 6, the department of theatre and film studies will screen Steven Bognar’s documentary, “9to5: The Story of a Movement” in Room 400 of the Fine Arts Building at 6:30 p.m. On Nov. 8, the department will host a panel titled “Heart to ‘Hart’: A Conversation on Workplace Feminism” in Room 400 of the Fine Arts Building at 6 p.m. Panelists include Eron Bird and Lela Dinakaran, co-chairs of Athens’ Women Who Work Committee; doctoral student Sloan Elle Garner; and Ray and will be moderated by Institute for Women’s Studies’ Elise Robinson. Both tie-in events are free and open to the public.
For more information, visit ugatheatre.com/ninetofive or call the Performing Arts Center box office at 706-542-4400.