In a few short weeks, Marc Kudisch will be on stage previewing the new musical, 9 To 5 in NYC. When rehearsals started in NY, late February, I had the opportunity to chat with Marc about just about everything that you would want to know about 9 To 5. Make sure to share this with your friends as you are buying your tickets to the show!

Tell us about your character, Franklin Hart Jr. in 9 to 5.
What don’t you know about the character? (laughs) He is that boss that everybody hates. The play takes place in 79. The film came out in 81 but it was really written in 79. There is a big difference between 79 and 81. I am old enough to remember it. It was the last batch of the unabashed male macho, self serving, self involved, man who thinks he is the master of the universe. By 1981, it was replaced by the corporate guy. There was a certain innocence and ignorance that allowed him to continue on with his craziness. It is amazing how relevant the show is now.

So tell me about getting the role.
I didn’t audition for this. I had worked with Joe (Mantello) before. My name was brought up so I did one of the readings and it went very well. The audition process has changed quite a bit. Readings and workshops are the place where the auditioning process really are now. You have to be in the development stages of these things. I don’t audition as much as I used to, which is a plus and minus.

How is it a minus?
Well it definitely is a minus in a lot of ways. I love to audition. If you don’t know the people especially, it gives you the opportunity to say hi. Actors are auditioning those people as much as they are auditioning them. What we do is collaborative. If people are interested in me they will tell me that they are interested in me joining or they will think that I am just not right for it. Then I will really want to audition for it. Because they know me or think that they know me, they wont’ give me the opportunity to walk in that room. They don’t want to insult me or waste my time in their opinion. Or they just do not see me in the role because they see me in a particular way. I like the auditioning process because it gives you the opportunity to explore and show another side of yourself.

What is a typical day of rehearsal like for 9 To 5?
I have some new material for 9 To 5. Today, I just had to work on a new song and a new reprise. Right now, for the first week my days or not crazy. They will get there though. You wake up at 6am to warm yourself up, you go to rehearsal at 10am, you finish around 6pm or so, you go home and eat dinner and rest to do it again. Right now, they are starting choreography for a new song for the ensemble. That is a big number. This week, I will go in and out, a couple of hours here and there. Next week, we will put the first act back together again, then the second act. We have 3 weeks rehearsal, which is short. Then we have 3 weeks of tech which is good. It’s a great cast and the re-writes are really good! A lot of people are going to say, “Damn!” If you have kids, get a babysitter. This is not for them. This is for adults to come and have fun.

Had you met Dolly Parton prior to your involvement in 9 to 5?
No, not at all. That was part of the fun. She is the sweetest person. She is incredibly supportive and she loves working on this show. She is a hard working woman. She is very generous and respectful. I appreciate it. It is nice to hear Dolly Parton say that she likes my voice. I’ll take it. When we were in LA, she was touring so we didn’t have her around as much as we would have liked. Then, when she was around, we were in the middle of a lot of tech stuff so she really didn’t get to see a lot.

Speaking of the LA previews, what was opening night like?
Well…in LA…it was a challenge. The show is great but it is such a big show tech wise so when we got out to LA, the schedule did not give us enough time for that. We were under a lot of pressure and stress to get things working. I think that to a certain degree it is very easy for Broadway to get caught up in the technology of today. It takes more time to put sets up because shows get so technologically advanced. In so many ways, we are still playing catch up with that so it was a challenge in LA because our stage…our first preview, we knew we would have to stop. So Dolly came in that afternoon and rehearsed with the orchestra for an hour just in case we had to stop.

Our set in LA had big pieces so moving around was going to take time. In our first preview we stopped. We were almost at the end of Act One and we actually thought that we were going to have to stop sooner. Then we came in a little bump in the road, Dolly got up and sang a couple of songs. The audience was loving it and then we got going again. Then my office didn’t move the way that it was supposed to we had to improvise an entire scene physically because the scene involved both sides of the set and we only had one. Dolly had to get back on stage again! It was a challenge but it was fun and we were proud of the show.

It takes a lot of work to make it look effortless. All of that won’t happen in NY. That is why we go out on the town, find the glitches, fix it, and simplify it. You learn from your run. Our run in LA was fantastic. After opening was when we really hit it. We had a 2 week preview period in LA and on average in NY it is 4 week period. So we were expected to put on a Broadway show in half the time, so it was a challenge. It was good though. It was good! I don’t even think the audience realized half of what I am telling you.

Do you have a favorite song in the musical, 9 to 5 so far?
I just heard a new song today that (Stephanie J.) Block sings in the first Act. I really like it! She has a great song in the second act, “Get Out and Stay Out.” There is a great song, “Tattle Tale” that got cut! It was a great song but it wasn’t supporting the flow of the play. I have always liked my first song in the show. It is fun, shameless. I have a new song in the second Act with a new Reprise to it. It is great. It is Dolly Parton. The woman can write. Not just country. So much of her best music, she never sang it but wrote for other people.

What moment in the show really touches you the most?
What touches Frank is very different. (laughs) The song I heard today was sweet. It was about someone dealing with a lot in their lives and trying to stay positive. You wouldn’t expect that so early on. It really hit a chord. There is this sudden moment of vulnerability. There is a great moment at the end with Allison Janney and Andy Karl that is really touching. The thing about our show is that it is honest and not precious so the moments that are tender always come out of a complicated situation. That is what makes it so tender to watch.

9 To 5 begins previews on April 7, 2009 and debuts on Broadway on April 30, 2009 at the Marquis Theatre.