{"id":15837,"date":"2018-04-23T10:10:43","date_gmt":"2018-04-23T17:10:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=15837"},"modified":"2018-04-27T10:32:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-27T17:32:46","slug":"new-musical-shows-that-were-still-workin-9-to-5-40-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2018\/04\/23\/new-musical-shows-that-were-still-workin-9-to-5-40-years-later\/","title":{"rendered":"New musical shows that we\u2019re still workin\u2019 9 to 5, 40 years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

They say timing is everything. That\u2019s certainly the case with the Victoria Operatic Society\u2019s latest production, 9 to 5: The Musical<\/em>. Based on the 1980 movie 9 to 5<\/em>, the show was originally chosen by the society\u2019s board because of its still-current social commentary.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they chose it just because it\u2019s still so relevant,\u201d says director and choreographer Pat Rundell. \u201cEven though the original screenplay was created in 1979, so many of the issues that are brought up in the show are still so relevant today. You know, with the fight for $15 an hour, right down to workplace ethics and things like that. And also, equality in the workplace and fair treatment of all genders.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to take on 9 to 5\u00a0<\/em>was made long before the #metoo and Time\u2019s Up movements gained traction. Rundell admits that there are uncomfortable moments in the show.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
9 to 5: The Musical<\/em> shows how the more things change, the more they stay the same (photo by Veronica Bonderud Photography).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAs we\u2019ve moved through it, there\u2019s definitely been some parts of the show where we go, \u2018Oooh, that hits a little too close to home,\u2019 but it\u2019s very real at the same time,\u201d Rundell says, adding that \u201chaving to step out of that comfort zone has been a challenge, but one that we\u2019ve handled safely in rehearsal hall. Everyone\u2019s got mutual respect for each other, so it\u2019s been one that we\u2019ve tackled together as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, he believes these moments are important to highlight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s amazing that almost 40 years later we\u2019re still dealing with the same issues,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why Jane Fonda\u2014Jane Fonda was the one who came up with the idea to create the movie\u2014came up with the idea, to start a conversation about that issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rundell has a history with the production and says that it\u2019s a passion project for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the original production of this musical before it even went to New York,\u201d he says. \u201cI was living in Los Angeles at the time as a student in theatre school, and we got to see the original production before it even hit Broadway. So, for me, that was kind of fun, to have seen the show in its early stages to now put my own spin on it. And in all my work, I just really love to raise issues and start conversations, and because this one is so relevant it really spoke to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rundell hopes to provide a show that will impress and entertain the audience (\u201cThere\u2019s over 210 costumes, which is ridiculously large for a musical in this town,\u201d he says). Still, he warns, \u201cit is notchild-friendly. We are notholding back. It\u2019s fun; people will have a great time, and they will kill themselves laughing, but [9 to 5<\/em>character Franklin] Hart is that lying, sexist, egotistical, hypocritical bigot, and we don\u2019t hold back on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

9 to 5: The Musical
\n<\/em>Various times, May 4 to May 13
\nVarious prices, McPherson Playhouse
\nrmts.bc.ca\/events\/9-to-5-the-musical-2018-mcpherson-playhouse<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They say timing is everything. That\u2019s certainly the case with the Victoria Operatic Society\u2019s latest production, 9 to 5: The Musical. Based on the 1980 movie 9 to 5, the show was originally chosen by the society\u2019s board because of its still-current social commentary. \u201cI think they chose it just because it\u2019s still so relevant,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15838,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-webexclusive"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15837"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15851,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15837\/revisions\/15851"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}