In “Working Lady,” an upwardly cell Melanie Griffith embodied Tess McGill, a secretary from Staten Island with huge hair and even greater goals. She thought her new boss (performed by Sigourney Weaver within the 1988 Mike Nichols film) can be an ally, since they had been each girls attempting to make it in a person’s world, however simply because Katharine Parker didn’t attain up her skirt, the way in which Tess’ male superiors had, didn’t imply she wouldn’t attempt to stab her within the again.
The celebs of the Broadway-aspiring stage musical now displaying on the La Jolla Playhouse should not Tess and Katherine, however the Nineteen Eighties themselves: poofy bangs and copious hairspray, nylon stockings and shoulder pads, boomboxes the dimensions of briefcases and synthesizer-driven pop music (provided right here by Cyndi Lauper, whose music and lyrics resemble her Prime 40 much more than her work on “Kinky Boots”). For the viewers, it’s enjoyable to search out themselves transported again in time, even because it’s unusual to really feel nostalgic for a much less enlightened decade, when greed was good, trend was cheesy and distaff workplace assistants had been objectified by their male colleagues.
However “9 to five” this isn’t. The place that film — and the Dolly Parton-backed Broadway musical it impressed — had been peppy and empowering, serving up an amusingly excessive reply to office chauvinism, “Working Lady” feels prefer it might need made a sharper play, given how plot-driven Kevin Wade’s unique screenplay was. Catchy sufficient to warrant radio play, Lauper’s songs have the difficult process of sounding concurrently hip (by modern requirements) and retro, like a lately unearthed pop album initially recorded again within the ’80s, then misplaced to time.
From its attitude-setting quantity, which finds Tess (Joanna “JoJo” Levesque) using the Staten Island Ferry to work, Lauper’s music packs a period-appropriate kick — assuming you may look previous the ultra-modern LED screens, on which photos of the Statue of Liberty symbolize the toughest working gal in New York. To listen to Tess inform it, she’s “on the lookout for one thing extra” — as open-ended an “I would like” tune as any musical may ask for.
The difficulty is, Tess’ ambitions aren’t taken critically within the testosterone-driven monetary sphere the place she works: mergers and acquisitions. In a typical setback, Tess learns that she’s been handed over for the chief coaching program (penalized for rebuffing a superior’s unwelcome advances, to be exact). The chance goes to a male “moron” as a substitute, whereas Tess will get reassigned to the desk of her firm’s newest rent — who, to Tess’ shock, seems to be a lady.
Her first bit of recommendation comes from no much less a job mannequin than Coco Chanel: “Gown shabbily and so they discover the costume. Gown impeccably and so they discover the girl.” Tess’ new boss swears they’ll stick collectively, but it surely’s not lengthy earlier than Tess discovers that she has stolen her huge thought — encouraging a shopper named Trask (Michael Genet) to buy a radio community, as a substitute of the TV station he had in thoughts.
Whereas Katharine spent a lot of the movie offscreen, the musical expands her half, giving the actress who performs her (on this case, Broadway vet Lesley Rodriguez Kritzer) extra scenes and extra songs than Weaver had within the film. She additionally will get the present’s largest snigger, spiraling by means of the air and right into a hospital mattress throughout a ski trip.
Whereas Katharine is laid up (“calling in” to sing from her hospital mattress), Tess steps into her boss’ footwear — actually, borrowing her designer garments within the closet-raiding makeover quantity “Discover the Lady” — and steals the enterprise contact who can dealer the deal, Jack Coach (Anoop Desai, a far cry from Harrison Ford however nonetheless each bit the romantic lead). The 2 have chemistry, sending sparks within the present’s greatest duet, “Can’t Belief No one,” although neither is 100% out there … or 100% reliable.
“Working Lady” has extra plot than your typical musical wants and solely a fraction of it lends itself to farce. Tess crashing the marriage of Trask’s daughter must be hilarious, however as a substitute feels overcrowded and unclear. And breaking for intermission proper after she’s efficiently made her pitch appears an odd place to pause. Wouldn’t Katharine’s return make extra sense, leaving audiences to surprise how “The Little Individuals” will sustain the charade, now that the cat has come dwelling (“I’m Again”)? It’s powerful sufficient to fill out the second half, as evidenced by the out-of-place however amusing scene of Jack breakdancing (“Dream in Royalty”)?
Among the many extra intriguing modifications is the concept Tess just isn’t alone in her battle, however helped alongside by half a dozen feminine colleagues, to the extent that they may have referred to as the present “Working Ladies,” if Mike Leigh hadn’t gotten there first. Clawing her manner up the ladder, Tess loses sight of these whose shoulders she stood on — particularly greatest pal Cyn (Ashley Blanchet within the Joan Cusack function), with whom she’ll should apologize earlier than present’s finish (their tune, “You and Me,” may cross for a retro radio hit).
Tess additionally has a boyfriend, Mick (Joey Tanato), who seems like Val Kilmer and feels like Jon Bon Jovi. In a intelligent tweak, he sings in a band. Making an attempt to win Tess again after they break up, Mick’s “Get You Scorching” jam bears an uncanny resemblance to “Dwelling on a Prayer.” That’s one of many stranger issues about Lauper’s songs: Numerous them sound a couple of notes faraway from precise ’80s faves, none greater than the title quantity, which echoes her personal immediately recognizable hit, “Ladies Simply Wish to Have Enjoyable.” It’s a catchy tune, although recollections of that earlier tune ship precisely the unsuitable message in a present the place women simply wish to be taken critically.
