9 to 5: the Musical - Neil Haskell

I watched 9 to 5: the Musical last night. It starred Allison Janney, Stephanie J. Block, Megan Hilty and Marc Kudisch.

Also in the cast was Neil Haskell of So You Think You Can Dance! What a pleasant surprise. Neil had a lot of solo 'flips' during the dance numbers which was really great. I think everyone who followed SYTYCD should be watching 9 to 5 because of Neil -- it's so worth it. After the show, we waited outside and when I met Neil he recognized me. He said that he has not seen me in more than a year (yay!) -- then I told him I will let everyone know he's in the show.

The real star of the show however was Dolly Parton. I could feel her spirit in the music. I was very touched. What a wonderful person Dolly is, really.

As far as critique... Allison Janney unfortunately does not have the best vocal -- most of the singing were left to the very competent hands of Stephanie J. Block and Megan Hilty. But Allison is a great actress, and you could just overlook the vocals, even if it was omnipresent like that gray hair sticking out of my head.

Also, production design was horrible. Too many pieces moving around the stage that don't make any sense -- and then when they ran out of ideas -- they just used a giant screen in the back for effects. I think it's too late to do anything about the sets -- but hopefully the director can do something to make the stage looked less cluttered then less bare every other scene.

I'm glad I watched this. They said that Dolly Parton is there every night tweaking the show before opening night in May. Maybe I should do a Dolly Parton watch until I get a picture with her...

Also, check out the 9 to 5: the Musical channel on YouTube. They interviewed us -- so I might just pop in there a few days from now. Hopefully I did not look like a fool! Hahaha.

Allison Janney from the West Wing:

Stephanie J. Block -- she read the role for Elphaba in Wicked, before Idina Menzel was cast in 2001 -- making her the true original Elphaba.