9 to 5

When crafting a vision for this show, I found myself returning over and over to the song “Change It.” It’s a complicated number with a lot of moving parts and a pesky key change. I really struggled with envisioning this number. But as we have gone through this rehearsal process, I’ve come to appreciate “Change It.” Is it difficult? Yes. Does my brain hurt trying to coordinate it all? Yup. Does it help that I have an awesome team beside me? Sure does! All of this also highlights the brilliance of the number: change isn’t easy, it can be painful, but when we work together change can create something really beautiful. So is it worth the headache? Absolutely.

As a woman director and a woman in the academy, I wish I could say that misogyny in the workplace has been completely changed for the better since the movie 9 to 5 premiered in 1980. If only Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda, and Lily Tomlin could solve gender and labor issues with their incredible acting prowess and inspiring off-screen philanthropic endeavors. Gender inequity in the workplace definitely persists today, but things keep changing. Not long after Title IX became law, and still years before the #MeToo Movement, the story of 9 to 5 provided audiences with an example of the power of female friendship and leadership to inspire positive change. I am who I am today because of the women before me who paved the way. Because of these women, this movie, this story (however unrealistic and humorous it may be), I hold on to hope that together we still can make a real change.