A reading of the musical was held on January 19, 2007, with a cast including Tracey Ullman, Allison Janney, Megan Hilty, Stephanie J.

[2] It won two Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, for Musical Score (Parton) and for Choreography (Andy Blankenbuehler).

Jeff Calhoun took over as director and choreographer, in the production that featured Dee Hoty, Mamie Parris, Diana DeGarmo and Joseph Mahowald in the lead roles.

[8][9] Headlining the cast were Jackie Clune, Natalie Casey, Amy Lennox, Ben Richards and Bonnie Langford.

On October 28, 2019, Dolly Parton announced that David Hasselhoff would star as Franklin Hart Jnr from 2 December 2019 until 8 February 2020.

[23] After the lifting of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 9 to 5 began the second national tour of the United Kingdom from the Mayflower Theatre Southampton on August 31, 2021.

[26] In March 2022, it was announced that a new US tour, based on the West End and Australian productions, is scheduled to launch in the fall of that year.

[35] 3-D Theatricals in Southern California will open a production on February 8, 2013, at Louis E. Plummer Auditorium in Fullerton and March 1, 2013, at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center.

Suddenly, each woman lapses into a murderous fantasy involving Mr. Hart; Judy as an unforgiving femme fatale ("The Dance O' Death"), Doralee as a crack rodeo star ("Cowgirl's Revenge"), and Violet as a deranged Snow White ("Potion Notion").

The next day at the office, Violet unwittingly acts out her fantasy and believes she put rat poison into Hart's coffee.

Roz overheard the ladies in the bathroom and tells Hart, who concocts a plan to scare them by pretending he was actually poisoned and to threaten them with the police.

Violet then lapses in fantasy and sings a song about she is now a hard-hitter like the rest of the male employees (who seems to rank above the women) ("One of the Boys").

Judy formulates the idea to send Roz to a one-month language seminar to learn French, which isn't necessary and is only a way to get rid of her.

Later on that evening, Judy's ex-husband, Dick, shows up at Hart's house and asks her to take him back (since his secretary girlfriend dumped him).

She rebuffs him and states she is a changed woman who will not crawl back to someone who broke her heart, showing strength as she orders him to leave ("Get Out and Stay Out").

The women, seemingly defeated, prepare to submit to Hart's wishes when they learn that the CEO of Consolidated, Mr. Tinsworthy, is paying a visit.

Violet is then promoted to Hart's position as President of the company and a celebration ensues, while Roz is devastated over the loss of her obsession.

[37] 9 to 5 uses a rock combo including keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, percussion, two woodwind players, two trumpets, and a trombone.

Variety praised the three female leads but suggested cutting act one: "Giant production numbers lose sight of character and quickly wear out their welcome."

Further, the review praised the choreography, design, and Parton's music, saying that the "score mostly achieves its intended goals of variety, build and likability, at its best nailing character with images as resonant as the title tune's 'Pour myself a cup of ambition.'"

"[43] The Theatremania.com review, while praising the choreography, costumes, set and performances of the female leads, concluded that "ultimately, the whole enterprise lacks the freshness it needs to make it a truly first-rate musical.

Director Joe Mantello and his creative team have spent a great deal of time and energy turning a modest story about office politics into a bells-and-whistles Broadway show".

[46] Following the Broadway opening, Ben Brantley of The New York Times described the show as an "overinflated whoopee cushion" and a "gaudy, empty musical" that "piles on the flashy accessories like a prerecession hedge funder run amok at Barney's."

He thought the stage adaptation turns its "feminist revenge story into an occasion for lewd slapstick (which feels about as up-to-date as the 1940s burlesque revue Hellzapoppin) and a mail-order catalog of big production numbers, filtered through that joyless aesthetic that pervaded the 1970s."

"[48] Linda Winer of Newsday called it "lavish and harmless entertainment... with a shiny-colored and efficient score" and said "the squarely old-fashioned show fills a tourist-ready Hollywood slot left vacant by Legally Blonde and Hairspray.

The thing feels less created than assembled from recycled musical-comedy components, but Broadway doesn't have one of these right now, and summer approaches.

"[50] Variety critic David Rooney thought that, although the material showcasing the female leads "is an uneven cut-and-paste job that struggles to recapture the movie's giddy estrogen rush, plenty of folks will nonetheless find this a nostalgic crowd-pleaser."

He continued, "As composer-lyricist of the country-flavored pop score, Parton is a significant presence... not just in the evergreen title tune but particularly in a handful of new songs... [that] reveal the songwriter's authentic personality," and concluded, "The pleasures of 9 to 5 are less guilty, but they're also less satisfying than they should be.

The promising material and terrific performers are too often sold short by clumsy story-building, overwhelming sets and unfocused direction.