By Doug Gulasy

Published: Wednesday, March 6, 2013, 9:01 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Chartiers Valley senior Megan Henderson dyed her hair blonde, and she's working on perfecting her Southern accent.

It all comes with the territory of portraying a character Dolly Parton made famous.

Henderson will play Doralee Rhodes in Chartiers Valley's production of “9 to 5: The Musical,” which began Wednesday night at the high school. The musical is based on the 1980 movie starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin.

“It's exciting,” said Henderson, who also is working as student director. “This is my senior project, so to have that responsibility on top of trying to find a medium between Dolly and Doralee is something of a challenge that I really enjoy this year.”

The movie and musical, both set in the late 1970s, center around three women who work for a “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” at a large corporation.

Senior Matthew Guerry will play the role of said boss.

“I've played villains before, but Hart's probably one of the first villains that I've ever played who I could not sympathize with,” Guerry said.

The women do get even with their boss, eventually kidnapping him and taking over the company themselves.

“They just blossom and change everything, and it's awesome to see the growth of the characters and everyone in the show,” said Ranae McIntyre, who plays Judy Bernly.

Because of the 1970s setting, the actors in the show get a chance to wear clothes, hair and makeup from that time period.

“The costume moms, they went all up in it,” said senior Rocki Boulis with a laugh. “They researched, and they got out their old yearbooks to show us hairstyles and what they wore. They really got the background of what the ‘70s were supposed to be.”

“9 to 5” will run from through Saturday at the high school, with shows at 7:30 each night. Tickets can be purchased at the door, and senior citizens can get one free general admission ticket.

Doug Gulasy is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-380-8527 or dgulasy@tribweb.com.

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