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Sound Design
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By Bryan Reesman
Miking 9 to 5, A Good Way To Make A Living
John Shivers puts in some overtime designing sound for this Broadway tuner
Those old enough to know the source material of
the Broadway musical 9 to 5 recall the hilarious
1980 film of the same name about three frustrated
office works (one of whom was played by Dolly
Parton) who take revenge on their “sexist, egotistical,
lying, hypocritical bigot” boss by holding him hostage
in his own house and running his office to make
changes for the better. Composer Parton and original
co-screenwriter/story creator Patricia Resnick brought
September 6, but plans are currently in the works for a
touring production. Stage Directions spoke with sound
designer John Shivers about his approach to this largescale
show and working with long-time associate David
Patridge and live mixer Dan Tramontozzi.
Stage Directions: How did you get involved in the
project? How much did you work with Dolly Parton?
John Shivers: I was contacted by General Manager
A musical number from 9 to 5
Marc Kudisch, as the evil boss, torments Stephanie J. Block
the movie to the stage with a plethora of new songs
(the title tune—which Parton also wrote—is the only
one from the original film) and a new male supporting
character.
9 to 5, which opened on Broadway with Megan
Hilty, Allison Janney and Stephanie J. Block in the lead
roles, is a genuine crowd pleaser with loads of set and
costume changes and a big, beefy sound. It closed on
Nina Lannan's office, who was inquiring about my interest
and availability. I was, of course, very interested and
subsequently met with Director Joe Mantello and Musical
Director/Vocal Arranger Stephen Oremus, who I had
never worked with, to discuss details of the design. Dolly,
although around for pretty much the entire process,
left us to do what we do but was extremely supportive
throughout.
This is a big musical that
embraces amplification and
certainly does not mask it
at any point. What was your
approach in creating the
sound design for 9 to 5?
You are correct, the show is
quite amplified and that fact
is made even more evident
by the nature of the acoustical
properties of the Marquis
Theatre. There is almost no
reverberation inherent in the
room, and because of that I
found the venue very unforgiving
and particularly challenging
in that every sonic
16 October 2009 • www.stage-directions.com