Welcome to the Washington University School of Medicine’s Musical of the 2025 season! We are so excited that you are able to join us, and we are even more excited to put on our production of 9 to 5 for you tonight.
Some of you may be familiar with this show from the 1980 movie musical production 9 to 5 from the mind of Dolly Parton. Maybe some of you are fans of the song, have seen another theatre community perform the musical, or even performed it yourself in your high school theatre program (which is how one of our directors was introduced to the show!) Perhaps you are unfamiliar with it entirely – but we hope by the end of the night you’ll all be dancing in your seats to the fun and energetic music that this show has to offer.
On the surface, 9 to 5 is a funny and offbeat musical about three girls who stand up to their boss and find friendship along the way. However, taking a deeper look into the story, this musical has a message that we think everyone needs to hear and can personally resonate with. Our three main protagonists, Judy, Doralee, and Violet, all overcome their personal struggles of family life, relationship dynamics, and insecurities to navigate new friendships and truly discover what it means to be empowered in the workplace. Mr. Hart continuously attempts to bring them down by minimizing their feelings, intelligence, and effort. The show puts forth a message of hope – to never limit yourself based on others' perceptions, to know your own worth, and to shine like the sun!
Our wonderful cast and crew is made up of graduate, medical, and healthcare students that are all committed to finding their own place in the field and feeding their own passions. I think it’s safe to say that everyone in this production has had a personal experience in which they stood up to someone- or something- forcing themselves to grow out of their comfort zone and embrace a new aspect of who they are. Putting this production together has led to a lot of self-reflection. It’s fulfilling to look back on all of our challenges that helped us grow into the kind of people we are today. And though we all can relate to this story, I don’t think any of us have experience with kidnapping our bosses, supervisors, or coworkers - or at least I hope we don’t.
We began our rehearsal process back in October, and since then, every Saturday we have filled rooms across the medical campus with singing, dancing, acting, and so much laughter. We are so grateful for the dedication that our cast has shown and the work and time that our crew has put forth to put on this production. We are so thankful to have been given the opportunity to work together and create something that we are proud of. Additionally, we are thankful to all of you - the audience- for coming to support our production. Thank you so much for coming, and we hope you enjoy the show. And if at any point, you find yourself reflecting on the challenges in your life, just remember - “a better day is on the way and only you can change it!”
Audrey Garrett and Duyen Bui
WashU Med School Musical 2024-2025
