From Dolly Parton to a six foot rabbit: KMT Soc spill all about their latest musical

This week. The King’s Tab interviewed members of the KCL’s Musical Theatre Society who are performing Dolly Parton’s iconic musical 9 to 5 from the 27^th to the 29^th November, featuring the very all-female Production Team.

For those of us who are complete newbies to musical theatre, 9 to 5 revolves around the lives of the three female leads. Violet is an overworked mother, Judy the new girl at Consolidated Industries, and Doralee, a character inspired by Dolly Parton dealing with the less than appropriate advances of their tyrannical yet hilarious boss Mr Hart.

If you’re not convinced that an evening of elaborate choreography, hilarious monologues and office romances is the perfect way to take a break for exams and coursework, we interviewed the cast and crew to convince you otherwise.

Behind the hairspray, tap shoes and 70s silhouettes, 9 to 5 is a story about workplace sexism, female empowerment and camaraderie packaged in cow-print. In the week leading up the show, we had the chance to ask some of the talented cast and crew about what the process of creating 9 to 5 has been like.

The entire show is put together by university students, balancing coursework and everyday university stresses whilst practicing complicated routines, set changes, pages upon pages of lines all within a month.

Whether you’re curious about the BTS of the show, wanting to see what it might be like to join KMT or just needing a quick read on your ride to your lecture, we’ve got you covered!

We spoke to Hannah, Keira and Melissa the musical director, creative assistant and choreographer of the show about what the creative process has been like.

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What was the biggest challenge with staging 9 to 5?

Melissa: “Trying to find the balance between all the silly elements and the important message, these are important moments of sadness and quite serious moments, it’s quite absurd so we had to find a balance with keeping those elements while also making it fun.

What was the approach to capture the essence of the 1970s while also keeping it fresh and relatable?

Melissa: “I’d say from a dance perspective, trying to avoid any movements that are too modern. Focusing on physicality that doesn’t feel like it’s coming straight out of 2024 while keeping it in the style of musical theatre that is still accessible to everyone. You don’t feel like you’re in 2024 but you’re also not feeling like ‘What am I watching?’. But also, a lot of it comes from costume and set.”

Hannah: “The music is quite modern, from around 15 years ago, but it still captures those 80s synth moments which are quite modern.”

What’s one thing you have learned from 9 to 5, which you’ll be taking into your personal and professional life?

Keira: “The approach that you take in rehearsals, because we are working with university students its important, difficult but important to have that balance of being in a production team and portraying our vision within the show whilst keeping in mind that these people are our friends, we are just students doing this for our own wellbeing and fun. We are all just trying to put on a great show and strike a balance.”

Melissa: “We’ve learnt how to find a balance between taking leadership over your peers while also trying to be their friends because a lot of them, especially when they’re older than you can bleed into the rehearsals.

“I’ve also learned a lot about learning from other people, because obviously we all come in with the dance already choreographed, directors having scenes blocked in her head when a lot of the time we’ll get in a room and other people in the cast will bring something that is special.

“The cast will bring something magical into the dances and sometimes it’ll make me want to change something and bring an element which they are REALLY good at. I have learned about that openness and how much you can learn from other people no matter how set in your ways you are.”

Director Victoria Taylor and choreographer Melissa Stewart

What were the funniest or most memorable moments during rehearsals for the show?

Melissa: “In the scene where everyone plays a woodland creature, I asked the cast to walk around as whatever animal I had assigned to them, and I did not expect them to go as hard as they did and that was just hilarious. It was another one of those moments that just highlighted to each one of these people really bring something special. That moments were just funny and memorable.”

Can you share a BTS moment that just stands out?

Keira: “When we had the read-through, it was the first time everyone was meeting each other and hearing them in their roles. It was just that moment of “wow we’ve chosen the right people, this is the right cast” and the right people to bring this show to life.”

Hannah: “I’d say the sitzprobe which is when the band and the cast sing together because that is when the cast gets excited to hear the band. It’s just such a good atmosphere.”

The King’s Tab also interviewed members of the cast about their characters, important themes of the show and their overall performance. We spoke to Sophia, Rhiannon, Cole, Louisa and Josh who play Judy, Roz, Dwayne, Doralee and Mr Franklyn Hart.

How did you connect with your character? Was there anything particularly challenging about bringing them to life?

Sophia: “Understanding and connecting with character came a little bit easier to me specially because I’m a new student and only here for a semester, so having that adjustment phase is very similar to what happens to Judy in the show. It was challenging to map out her journey in the show given that she is pretty different at the end, finding a lot of her confidence and courage through her friendship with Violet and Dora Lee and just figuring out when these changes happen.”

Josh: “Hart is inherently a bad character so it was quite difficult to connect with him as a human being so I’m basically doing all the opposite things I would normally do, that was the best method to go for. I think that was key for playing this caricature of a character, really making it over the top because that brings the comedic essence to it rather than it just being slimy. Although he is the villain, he does give that comedic relief to the audience specially as the show goes on. He dwindles down as he becomes smaller in his world because the women are taking over.”

What aspects of your own personality or experience did you draw on to play your role?

Rhiannon: “Well Roz is a very dynamic character, she grabs your attention every time she enters the space even if she isn’t not there for very long. I’d say the descriptor would be ‘annoying’ so that was really for me to pull. For her own solo song ‘Hart to Hart’ she’s a bit of a hopeless romantic, a lover of films and delusion and just full of major fangirl material so it was very easy to channel and put up to the tenth degree.”

Sophia: “We’re both introverts and unfortunately a little bit clueless to what’s going on around us. Judy more in the sense that she is adjusting to new things while I’m just an oblivious person most of the time, I don’t take in as much of the world as I probably should.”

Louisa: “Well, Doralee is a Texan cowgirl and I lived in Texas for eight years, so I brought that. Doralee is very confident while I’m not so playing her has really helped me to become more confident in myself, playing someone like her makes you more confident. She is a girl’s girl and I think that I also am, I feel that nobody really gives her the benefit of the doubt and I always do, I’m always trying to be kind to people so that was kind of easy to put into her character.”

Cole: “Dwayne is many things but he’s quite a complementary person and I’d say I’m quite like that in real life, I love to give people compliments!”

If your character had a TikTok or social media account, what kind of content would they post?

Sophia: “Judy would post Nara Smith-ish content but without a partner, maybe some baking tutorials. She’d just love to share what she does now and find joy in those little things. So definitely some kind of cooking and baking, lifestyle account.”

Josh: “Oh, Hart would post some red pill and Andrew Tate style of content, that sigma male-esque type of content.”

Cole: “Dwayne and Doralee would *so* have day in our life TikTok’s, calling each other ‘pookie’, doing matching outfit checks. I think they would make content like Nara and Lucky Smith, where he is over the counter making food while Dora Lee smacks his bum.”

Louisa: “Dwayne would make ‘What I do while my wife is at work’ TikTok’s, maybe some weekly reset videos. We always joke that while Doralee is at work, Dwayne just turns himself off like a robot until his wife comes back home.”

Rhiannon: “Either she would be a Book-Toker for super saucy/steamy monster romance books or sleeping with your boss novels OR she would just be a dominatrix and that would be her whole TikTok account.”

9 to 5 deals with workplace dynamics and equality. How do you think these themes resonate with university students today?

Cole: “Yes, I think there is always a clash between students specially now with the struggle in Palestine, I think that carries through with wanting to be heard and to speak up on these issues. This is the perfect show to put on now, it sparks well needed conversations around topics that are still prevalent today.”

Louisa: “I’d agree, especially with the recent American election, women’s rights being questioned. This is a show about women getting their power and hopefully that can happen outside of the show!”

What advice would you give a King’s student wanting to join musical theatre?

Josh: “Literally just chuck yourself into it, do as many auditions as you possibly can. I mean, I got lucky at my first chance at King’s, but I have been unlucky with previously getting into other shows. As long as you try as many things as possible, you’re bound to land something.

“We’re also an inclusive community, we want everybody to enjoy musical theatre as much as possible it’s a place for everybody. Whether you’ve just got into musical theatre or you’re a veteran and can name an infinite number of musicals, just throw yourself into it and we’ll be welcoming you with open arms.”

There you have it folks! 9to5 will take place in the Greenwood Theatre at Guy’s Campus from Wednesday 27th to Friday the 29th  November.

Featured images by Arije Chibani