The credits begin to play for “9 to 5,” GH Theatre’s final musical performance for the 2023-24 school year. The crowd applauds as the actors take their bow. The GH Theatre prepared for this musical for an entire quarter and a half, resulting in an outstanding performance. 

The musical was based on the 80’s hit film “9 to 5,” which follows three female coworkers who plan to get revenge against their unfair and sexist boss. GH Theatre lights technician Akshara Sai Venkatesan (‘24) described the film as “a story of the strength of the women in the 70s and how they powered through their misogyny-filled office spaces.” Venkatesan revealed that the group chose the musical because it “is such an empowering story to watch as an audience member.” 

Venkatesan believed putting the musical together was a valuable process. “It has been a wonderful experience. Elliot Bratcher (‘25), the sound head of the musical, along with the whole sound team, has put so much effort into making the musical a treat to everyone’s ears. Getting our body mics to work, solving problems in real-time like battery or wire issues, or just getting to spend time with the sound team has been such a pleasure,” she said. “As for the other departments and the actors, I’m sure they’ve thoroughly enjoyed this process, especially seeing all their hard work come to life when the actors performed these past three nights.”

Venkatesan emphasized the hard work that was put into making the performance happen. “Musicals are really time-consuming and just fitting the musical into my schedule and working around it was a hardship I faced during this musical,” she said. 

Makeup artist Anyssa McGowen Dove (‘24) agreed that arriving at the final product was challenging. “The biggest hardship would be miscommunication because when working with people and trying to teach them theater makeup and different ‘rules’ it can be confusing,” she explained. “It’s hard trying to sometimes describe what you’re thinking to maybe around five or seven different people when your mind is running at 100 mph.”

However, GH Theatre members not only overcame such challenges, but also used these challenges to improve their skills. Such effort did not go unnoticed: Audience members remarked on the diligence and hard work evident in the thoroughly prepared performance. 

Audience member Samatha Chu (‘25) expressed how she enjoyed the musical. “The singing was super impressive from all the roles that had solos, and it’s obvious as a viewer how dedicated everyone was when producing the musical.” 

Chu believes that the annual theatre performances are a vital tradition. “I’ve seen all the musicals since my freshman year and so I didn’t want to miss this production. It’s always fun to see what the students worked really hard on, plus I get to support my friends who are in theatre,” she said. “The performance was really fun to watch but the part that impacted me the most was watching the closing night tradition of handing out flowers to the teachers and seniors of the production. It really showed Green Hope’s culture in being supportive and bonded which I thought was really sweet.”

As the curtains close on this year’s theatre season, the show proves to be a symbol of the hard work and camaraderie among theatre members. The Green Hope community looks forward to many more performances in years to come.