'9 to 5' a robust romp

A big, cheerful, gorgeous dumb blonde of a musical comedy, 9 to 5: The Musical, the Walnut Street Theatre's season opener, is, like many a dumb blonde, good for a fun night out. (OK, OK, is every new-wave feminist going to call the gender police? Aw, shucks.)

Based on the 1980 movie of the same name (its screenwriter, Patricia Resnick, wrote the show's book), Dolly Parton wrote 16 songs for the Broadway show, each with her signature country sound; the excellent cast belts them out with gusto.

Here's the story: Violet Newstead (the excellent Dee Hoty), a widow and single mother, has been slaving away at her secretarial job for years, hoping for a promotion to administration. Doralee (the delectable Amy Bodnar) is her co-slave, a cowgirl from Texas, being lecherously pursued by their boss, Mr. Hart (a terrifically lewd Paul Schoeffler). Judy (Amanda Rose), a new "girl," arrives, without an office skill to her name, but desperate for work since her husband dumped her for his 19-year-old secretary. The guys joke: "What do you call a woman who's lost 95 percent of her intelligence? Divorced."

These beleaguered women, plus the entire demoralized workforce, find relief when the three secretaries kidnap Mr. Hart and renovate the whole business: day care for kids, rehab for drunks, plants in the office, and photos on the desks.

Mr. Hart's tyrannical assistant (the sensational and hilarious Mary Martello) is a closet red-hot mama who is sent off to Colorado, while sweet Joe (Ben Dibble, in fine voice), who has the hots for Violet, helps them get the goods on Hart's crooked accounting practices.

The opening ensemble number, the title song, "9 to 5," sets the jolly and robust tone for the show; other standout numbers are the fabulous "Backwoods Barbie" and "Joy to the Girls." This show isn't going to start any feminist revolutions or organize any labor unions, but it's lively and funny and directed with vigor by Bruce Lumpkin.

And from high above the proceedings, at the top of the proscenium, Dolly Parton appears, via film, to comment on this backward glance at the bad old days of office work, "when apples and blackberries were things I picked behind the barn."

Through Oct. 19, Walnut Street Theatre, Ninth and Walnut Streets. Tickets $20-$95. Information: 215-574-3550, walnutstreettheatre.org. EndText