You can’t escape the presence of Dolly Parton in this musical version of the 1980 movie in which she co-starred. Not only has she written all the songs but her name dominates the publicity and her prerecorded image tops and tails the production and even launches the final chorus. If the title hadn’t been bagged already, the musical might well be called Hello, Dolly!
The show itself is unashamedly a period piece and about as subtle as a sledgehammer. The book by Patricia Resnick, who scripted the movie, retains the idea of three female office workers uniting to get their revenge on a monster boss. Many of the gags are of Carry On vintage. Judy, the newcomer pining for the husband who has deserted her, loudly declares: “I still miss Dick.” In a piece of dated shtick, the boss’s most loyal ally takes off her specs, lets down her hair and shows herself to be a lavishly corseted raver. The boss himself is a pantomime villain who, when strung up in his S&M bedroom, announces: “I’m going nuts with my nuts in a truss.”
Even the songs are full of contradiction. Doralee, the character originally played by Parton, complains in Backwoods Barbie that she is seen as a glamour puss while hardly dressing like Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music. The show is a piece of slick commercial packaging, but it still argues that equal pay, flexible hours and in-house daycare are not only vital targets but also make for better business.
While the musical is a simplistic revenge fantasy, it is stylishly put across in Jeff Calhoun’s production. Caroline Sheen, as the office supervisor, sings and dances with great verve and she is well supported by Natalie McQueen as Doralee, Amber Davies as Judy and Bonnie Langford as the closeted sex queen. Given the unenviable task of playing the lecherous chief exec, Brian Conley invests the character with the right tongue-in-cheek excess.
This may be mass-market feminism but, with its advocacy of workplace equality, I could not bring myself to dislike it.
• At the Savoy theatre, London, until 31 August.
