Dolly Parton had to reschedule the dates of her Las Vegas residency recently, but fans looking for a touch of the Smoky Mountain Songbird need look no further than Cal State Bakersfield.<\/p>\n
This week, CSUB\u2019s Department of Music & Theatre presents \u201c9 to 5: The Musical,\u201d featuring a high-energy score by Parton.<\/p>\n
Mandy Rees, the director and theater program coordinator, said she was impressed by the singer-songwriter\u2019s work for the musical based on the 1980 cult classic film starring Parton alongside Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.<\/p>\n
\u201cI appreciated her before working on the show, but I have to say my admiration for her songwriting skills has grown immensely,\u201d Rees wrote in an email. \u201cThere are heartfelt ballads (\u2018Backwoods Barbie,\u2019 which could be about Dolly herself), show-stopping numbers (\u2018Heart to Hart\u2019 and \u2018One of the Boys\u2019) and powerful anthems (\u2018Shine Like the Sun\u2019 and \u2018Get Out and Stay Out\u2019).\u201d<\/p>\n
The team chose the musical for its ability to accommodate a lot of student performers while allowing them opportunities to learn new singing, dancing and acting skills.<\/p>\n
She wrote, \u201c\u20189 to 5\u2019 is a great balance of quirky characters and a relatable plotline, an important message about workplace sexism, and a wonderful score. And it was great fun to work on!\u201d<\/p>\n
The show centers on the hard-working and beleagured female trio Violet (Ensley Mehlberg), Judy (Sarah Skenfield) and Doralee (Emily Driscoll in the Parton role) facing off against their sexist boss, Mr. Hart (Sebastian Richardson), who is aided by devoted assistant Roz (Honey Crowder).<\/p>\n
Rees said the most fun sequences in the show are when each woman shares her fantasy of taking revenge on Hart.<\/p>\n
Although those moments are played for a lot of laughs, the show has messages relevant to today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThough we have made much progress regarding women being treated equally in the workplace since the 1970s, there is still work to be done,\u201d Rees wrote. \u201cAnd unfortunately, there are still stories of women being harassed by men in authority positions. But beyond these social issues, we can also relate to the three central characters dealing with love and loss and, for the first time, finding their own voices as women.\u201d<\/p>\n
This ambitious show features 22 scenes, with sets and lighting designed by Chris Eicher, costumes by Roger Upton, creative and fun dances by choreographer Marvin Ramey and music directed by Matthew Hanne, who is part of CSUB music faculty.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe has assembled a fabulous 12-piece live band to play Dolly Parton\u2019s score,\u201d Rees said of Hanne. \u201cHaving live music makes the evening all the more exciting!\u201d<\/p>\n
This musical also features the talents of performers Razcon Dorazo, Star Castellanos, Jacob Cota, Loe Eoff, Jenna Fernandez, Euphemia Gibson, Jenna Gonzales, Mariah Jameson, Felicia Low, Savannah McCoy, Bryson Teutsch, Joanna Vasquez and Elliott Wilson.<\/p>\n
Rees said the cast and crew hope audiences come out for an entertaining evening and enjoy the live music and dancing.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u20199 to 5 is a satire, and though it deals with the serious issue of sexism, it uses humor and song to make its point,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n
The show plays at 7:30 p.m. today, Oct. 24, 25, 31 and Nov. 1 with a matinee at 2 p.m. Nov. 2 at the Dore Theatre on campus, 9001 Stockdale Highway<\/p>\n
Admission is $15, $10 for seniors (60 and older), CSUB faculty and staff, $7 for students. Tickets are available at box office or in advance at csubmusictheatre.eventbrite.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n For the performance on Halloween, the CSUB Drama Club will sell goodie bags with Halloween knickknacks such as stickers and tattoos as a fundraiser and encourages attendees to celebrate the day and feel free to come in costume.<\/p>\n \u20189 to 5: The Musical\u2019 When: 7:30 p.m. today, Oct. 24, 25, 31 and Nov. 1, 2 p.m. Nov. 2 Where: Dore Theatre, Cal State Bakersifeld, 9001 Stockdale Highway Admission: $15, $10 for seniors (60 and older), CSUB faculty and staff, $7 for students; tickets available at box office or in advance at csubmusictheatre.eventbrite.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dolly Parton had to reschedule the dates of her Las Vegas residency recently, but fans looking for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152,9930,16789,16792,16790,16791],"class_list":{"0":"post-20468","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-bakersfield","8":"tag-bakersfield","9":"tag-bakersfield-headlines","10":"tag-bakersfield-news","11":"tag-cal-state-bakersfield","12":"tag-dolly-parton","13":"tag-las-vegas-residency","14":"tag-mandy-rees","15":"tag-smoky-mountain-songbird"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}