by Ryan Polk | staff writer
The theatre department will present their production of the musical 9 to 5 Thursday, February 4th through Saturday, February 6th at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, February 7th at 2:00. Tickets will be on sale during all lunch periods, with the option of reserved seating for $12, or general admission for $10. This is the annual winter musical and it is a collaborative effort between the theater, band, and choir departments.
“It’s about a group of women who are working- doing office work, and they’re being treated pretty badly,” Co-director and technical theatre teacher Megan Thompson said. “[For example] not being paid the same as the male employees; being treated sort of in a bad way because they’re women. And they decide that they want to get revenge on their male boss.”
Even though the show’s plot may sound like a recipe for intense drama, this does not seem to be the case, according to Thompson.
“[The show] is fun, it’s a whole lot of fun. It’s got good music, it’s written by Dolly Parton [and the show] has lots of really nice, strong women roles,” Thompson said. “We’re using confetti guns and a disco ball, and yes, little puppets for woodland creatures and all that. It’s got a lot going on, and a lot of moving parts.”
The directors also hope that audiences will be able to see past all of the 80’s glitz and glamour to see the true message of the show.
“[The show has] really rich characters all the way around and a really powerful message to the story. [It’s] something that can still be relevant even though it was written in 1980; the movie it’s based off of. The story- the themes are still very out there today with what’s going on,” Co-director and theater arts teacher Jay Asterman said.
Asterman went on to say how the message and content of the play can still be relevant today, since the show deals with the mistreatment of women in a typical office setting purely because of their sex.
“Just that, regardless of who you are, or what sex you are, we all have wants, we all have dreams. And we should all have the chance to pursue those no matter if we’re male, female, disabled, whatever it is, that you have that chance to pursue it and not be held down by somebody who says no,” Asterman said.
