What a way to make a living

Art Tedesco said he has portrayed characters who have done their fair share of flirting or who have had affairs with old girlfriends. But Tedesco has never played a man quite like Franklin Hart Jr., the company boss in the musical comedy “9 to 5,” opening tonight at the Albuquerque Little Theatre.

“I think there’s a lot of humor to the character because he’s such a jerk,” he said of Hart. “He’s a boss who doesn’t care what he needs to do to get to the top, to impress people, to show he’s the boss.”

Tedesco said there are other, more despicable aspects to the character that are encapsulated in a line that’s in a fantasy sequence with the three female leads.

	‘9 to 5′ WHEN: 8 tonight and Saturday, Oct. 20, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 21. Repeats Oct. 26-28 and Nov. 1-4 WHERE: Albuquerque Little Theatre, 224 San Pasquale SW HOW MUCH: $24 general public, $21 seniors, $18 for students, $12 for those 12 and under at the ALT box office, by calling 242-4750 or by visiting www.albuquerquelittletheatre.org. Group rates of 10 or more available. Season tickets also are available

In the sequence, he said, Hart utters this line about himself: “I’m a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot.”

Though the musical comedy had only a four-month Broadway run in 2009, it was nominated for four Tony Awards and received 15 Drama Desk nominations. It is based on the popular 1980 film of the same name that starred Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda and Dabney Coleman.

Tahirih Garcia is playing Doralee Rhodes, the Parton character. Carolyn Hogan is Violet Newstead, whom Tomlin played, and Stevie Nichols is Judy Bernly, the part Fonda had.

Each local actor is trying to put her own stamp on the characters who are secretaries in the company.

Doralee, Garcia said, “has a heart as big as the outdoors and who wants to be there for people, who wants to be noticed in a positive way.

“She’s away from home in Texas. The job is her way to survive in New York City. It goes from a job to being part of a social group. She gains a bigger family, a family of friends. I think a lot of people can identify with that.”

Hogan’s character of Violet is the widowed mother of a teenager. Violet’s husband has been dead for three years.

“A line in the show is that she’s been with this company for 15 years and she has the talent and the aspiration to move up in the company,” Hogan said.

But Hart, being the sexist that he is, thinks the business should be dominated by men, so he prevents her from advancing. Violet, who is a supervising secretary, keeps hitting stumbling blocks when men are hired for positions that she’s more qualified for.

“There are a lot of references to the ‘old boys’ club,’ and they get the benefits before the women do,” Hogan said.

Nichols said her character, Judy, is separated from her husband but she also possesses an innocent quality.

“What I relate to is finding the little quirks in Judy’s personality are fun. She’s innocent, naive. A lot of my scenes have to do with Judy asking questions, blurting things out,” Nichols said.

In one scene that reveals Judy’s naivete, the secretaries learn that the boss has been cooking the books and stealing from the company.

“I say that there’s no way a boss would do that,” Nichols said.

She and Hogan agreed that the show is spilling over with comedy, in the laugh-out-loud lines or in lines with double meanings that are scattered throughout the play.

Many of the lines are spoken by different characters, so audience members will have to listen closely, Hogan said.

The show also has its share of humorous scenes.

Hogan said her favorite one is in the hospital. Violet thinks she’s poisoned the boss. Hart never gets around to swallowing the drink she’s doctored, but he’s taken to the hospital for another reason. Not aware of the cause of the boss’ trip to the hospital, Violet, Judy and Doralee rush there to see if Hart is OK.

“There’s major confusion with other patients and with police making reports about something unrelated to Hart. But the three ladies don’t know that,” Hogan said. “It’s a funny, almost slapstick kind of scene.”

She thinks the musical score, which Parton wrote, has a country-pop feel so it isn’t typically Broadway.

Garcia hopes that prospective audience members don’t say, “Oh, I’ve seen the movie so I don’t need to see the show. There’s more to the storytelling, and the play builds on how funny and fantastic the movie was.”

Nichols said the musical “9 to 5″ has two of the three elements she looks for when auditioning. Though it doesn’t have tap dancing, “9 to 5″ does have comedy and a social message, she said.

A strong social message is gender equality in the workplace, said Henry Avery, who is directing the ALT production.

“9 to 5″ is the first main stage production of ALT’s 2012-13 season. The other announced shows in the series are “It’s a Wonderful Life,” which opens Nov. 30; “La Cage aux Folles,” which opens March 1; “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” April 12; and “The Producers,” May 24.

— This article appeared on page V01 of the Albuquerque Journal