Royal City Musical Theatre stages Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 The Musical, April 25 to May 11

Fast-paced feminist adventure follows three coworkers who rebel against their boss

SPONSORED POST BY Royal City Musical Theatre

(From left) Maia Beresford as Doralee, Irene Karas Loeper as Violet, and Madeleine Suddaby as Judy in *9 to 5 The Musical*. Photo by Emily Cooper

Royal City Musical Theatre (RCMT) presents the hotly anticipated production of Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 The Musical, on stage April 25 to May 11 at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster. In this fast-paced feminist adventure that takes place in the Rolodex era, three female coworkers dream up an elaborately zany plan to get even with their terrible boss, giving their workplace a dream makeover in the process.

Set in 1979, 9 to 5 The Musical follows three coworkers—Violet, Doralee, and Judy—as they endure their mundane and demoralizing office jobs at Consolidated Industries under the thumb of their sexist and egotistical boss, Franklin Hart Jr. When the women are suddenly given the chance to turn their wildest revenge fantasies into reality, they hatch a plan to kidnap their nasty boss and step into their full potential, ultimately taking control of the company. The play stars returning RCMT alumni Irene Karas Loeper as Violet, Maia Beresford as Doralee, Madeleine Suddaby as Judy, and Dustin Freeland as Franklin Hart Jr.

RCMT’s 9 to 5 The Musical team is led by codirector Chris Adams, codirector and choreographer Valerie Easton, musical director Angus Kellet, set designer Emily Dotson, lighting designer Rob Sondergaard, costume designer Deborah Basterfield, sound designer Rick Colhoun, and props manager Stephanie Barclay.

Easton, who is also RCMT’s outgoing artistic director, says in a release that the production “features the whimsical storyline and charming characters that audiences know and love from the classic 1980 film, with the addition of an entire score of toe-tapping, show-stopping musical numbers by the legendary Dolly Parton.” Among the songs included are “Change It”, “Backwoods Barbie”, and of course, “9 to 5”.

9 to 5 The Musical made its Broadway debut in April 2009, earning 15 Drama Desk Award nominations, four Tony Award nominations, and a Grammy nomination for Best Musical Theater Album. A decade later, the musical debuted in London’s West End, and has since toured both the U.S. and U.K. The book is written by Patricia Resnick, who cowrote the film’s original script.

For tickets and information, visit Royal City Musical Theatre.

Post sponsored by Royal City Musical Theatre.

Featured

Theatre review: People, Places and Things dives inside the rehab bubble with bold theatricality

At The Cultch, The Search Party play’s strong performances, dry wit, and inventive staging capture the disorientation of addiction and the stories we tell ourselves about it

Fast-paced romance Shakespeare in Love lands at Metro Theatre, April 3 to 25

Story follows the passionate affair between penniless playwright Will and beautiful young woman Viola de Lesseps

Theatre review: Pyper retells folk tales to explore our relationship with AI and algorithms

Cyborg teenagers struggle with the same fears about technology that their human counterparts do in this visually spare, idea-charged production by UBC Theatre

Top-notch cast assembles for staged reading of The Stranger at PAL Studio Theatre, March 13 to 15

Based on an early Agatha Christie story, the play focuses on a woman’s impulsive marriage to a charming mystery man

Party atmosphere of Danceboy celebrates self-discovery and the joys of Bollywood

Multifaceted theatremakers Munish Sharma and Gavan Cheema bring an eight-year-long project to completion by working beyond stage conventions

Franklinland takes an irreverent look at one of the Founding Fathers of the United States

Actor Brian Markinson says Lloyd Suh’s script takes artistic liberties with the life of Benjamin Franklin

Theatre review: Fears about motherhood infuse poetic, darkly humorous Liste des enfants dévorés par les loups

With warped sitcom rhythms, Caroline Bélisle’s new play brings together two old friends to contend with contemporary ambivalence about bringing children into the world

Vancouver International Children’s Festival gets set to welcome everything from high-energy Danish dance to artful Korean doodling

Eighty shows in all, as Italy’s Teatro Telaio sets up an ARCHIPELAGO installation, plus pow-wow, hip-hop, and massive puppets

Pyper lives in world where AI-generated teens struggle with their own reality, at Frederic Wood Theatre from March 11 to 28

Award-winning play by Susanna Fournier offers an unsettling, witty update of fairy-tale themes as old as Pinocchio and the Pied Piper

Marlene Ginader's Canadian Psycho premieres at the Firehall Arts Centre, March 31 to April 12

Provocative solo show follows a woman who’s focused on fixing the lack of diversity in the serial-killer space

Munish Sharma’s Danceboy makes its world premiere at Pi Theatre, March 19 to 22

In the Theatre Conspiracy production copresented by Touchstone Theatre, a South Asian man finds self-expression through dance

People, Places & Things tackles addiction, despair, and hope at The Cultch

Director Mindy Parfitt finds inspiration with local implications in the darkness, wit, and honesty of Duncan Macmillan’s acclaimed play

Theatre review: Refreshingly buoyant Nunsense is blessed with charm and skill

In the endearing new Metro Theatre production, a five-sister team of performers creates an exceptionally strong and funny ensemble

The Golden Anniversaries tours to the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, March 24 and 25

Arts Club production centres a married couple that recounts the good, the bad, and the ugly of spending 50 years together

Playwright Caroline Bélisle addresses motherhood anxieties in Liste des enfants dévorés par les loups

Care of Théâtre la Seizième, the work examines how female friendships must adapt to the pressure of raising a new life

Kat Sandler's seductively funny Wildwoman comes to Gateway Theatre, March 26 to April 4

Based on the true story that inspired Beauty and the Beast, play centres Catherine de Medici and the man who awakens her wild side

Heist, Death of a Salesman, Elf, and more as Arts Club unveils 15 shows for 2026–27

Next season includes high-camp spoof Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, Tracey Power’s premiere The Elvis Christmas Comeback Special, and the newly named Lindsay Family Stage

Agatha Christie’s The Stranger comes to Western Gold Theatre, March 13 to 15

On Our Feet staged reading captures the slow-burning suspense of the famed author’s psychological thriller

Maud Andrieux performs Un Barrage contre le Pacifique at Alliance Française Vancouver, March 21

One-woman show draws on Marguerite Duras’s novel to tell the story of a French mother in 1930s Indochina

Theatre review: House of Folk evokes the spirit of the 1960s and the slippery nature of memory

Tracey Power’s musical revue poses open-ended questions at the Firehall Arts Centre

Theatre review: Red Like Fruit asks provocative questions about what it means to voice violence

In Hannah Moscovitch’s spare, blunt two-hander at The Cultch, tension lives not only in what is being said, but in how it is being said and who is saying it